How appropriate I pick up my “Be Still” mug this morning and then I realize I am in Jonah. God definitely has a sense of humor…or maybe He just knew I needed a little chuckle this morning.
In the beginning of the story, we are all too familiar with the storm that takes place in the water because Jonah didn’t want to go where God had called him to go. He knew why he was going through the stormand eventually ended up being tossed overboard…and of course we know what ends up happening to him.
As I was reading in Jonah this morning, I got a message from a sister in Christ and it said:
“We are loved with a everlasting love. Our Lord gives good gifts to His children. The devil wants to distract us from His love and provision. He still owns everything. Look to His strength because ours is weak. He is on our side and holding our hand. He is there in the good and always there in the most difficult times. You will look back and see Him in all this later. You will get to the other side!!! Love you!!!”
The part that I love the most is, “He is there in the good and always there in the most difficult times.” I think we forget that when the storm waters are raging. We are like the sailors on the boat with Jonah, we turn to our false Gods and then “what we can do”, instead of saying, “I am trusting you Lord because I am here for a reason.” Jonah knew why he was in the storm.
Maybe you don’t understand the storm you are in, but it is always for a purpose! It is always to draw you closer to Him….AND whatever you go through that draws you closer to Jesus, it is worth it. Jonah accepted his fate of being thrown overboard, because he knew the storm would cease. Maybe God is asking you to take a leap of faith in your storm. Some see the prepared whale for Jonah as a trial, but without the whale, he would have been “swallowed by the storm”. I keep telling myself, “Your whale is coming…just keep swimming my friend. You will get to the other side!”
Jonah 1
