Brown's Daily Word 7-27-10

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for summer days. Praise the Lord, for we are reminded in the Word of God that grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our Lord endures for ever. Alice was in Boston for a few days, and she came home yesterday. She brought Micah along. Micah is all grown up, practically a young lady now. She is a bundle of blessing.
I am reading from Jonah this morning. Chapter 2 Verse 1 tells us about a time when Jonah prayed. We might prefer going to a nice, quiet place to pray; Jonah also had a very secluded spot. God commanded Jonah’s undivided attention inside of the great fish, and the prophet prayed. When God allows a trial into our lives, He also gives us time to contemplate. Jonah had 3 days. We may feel swallowed up by circumstance, but we have the assurance that what God brings to us is always for our good and His glory.
Jonah, in his prayer, admitted that he was as good as dead, but God reached out and rescued him! Jonah understood that his deliverance had been directed by the Hand of God, Who rules His creation.
Though things couldn't have seemed much worse for Jonah, he exercised hope in verse 4: “…yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.” Faith dares to approach God, knowing and confessing that we are sinful people, undeserving of mercy. We may spiritually sink as deep as Jonah did, yet God will not abandon us. Jonah was thrown out of a ship, but not out of the sight and grace of God. We have Christ’s added promise: “I will never cast you out”… you “will never perish” (John 6:37, 10:28). In Psalm 94 David affirmed, “The Lord will not abandon His people.”
Jonah spoke of “worthless idols” in verse 8, which may be translated, “vain, empty vanities”. People throw away any hope of salvation by creating substitutes for God. We may not think of ourselves as idolaters, yet idolatry is any worthless endeavor we take on apart from trust in God. We may find ourselves bowing to the idols of ambition, greed, comfort, and pleasure. Then Johan mentioned “the grace that could be theirs”, admitting that the Gentiles were capable of being reached by God's salvation. Then Jonah re-enlisted in God’s service, renewing his commitment to his prophetic office in verse 9 with a song of thanks.
The prophet admitted in verse 9, “Salvation comes from the Lord.” The word “comes” could also be translated as “belongs to”. This is the theme of the entire Bible. Salvation is a gift, and God isn't obligated to limit His salvation to those whom we deem worthy of it. Jonah’s attitude in chapter one was, “I’m not going to be a part of God saving the Ninevites.” Despite Jonah's bad attitude, God miraculously saved Jonah from drowning, and so Jonah was brought to understand that God is sovereign in salvation. It’s as if God were saying to Jonah: “Salvation is Mine to give--I give it to whomever I choose. I gave it to you. If I choose to save the Ninevites, that’s none of your business.”
“Salvation is possible only because God makes it possible” (Boice). God chooses to reach out to people who cannot or do not reach back. He accepts and entitles the undeserving. “God loves us not because of who we are and what we have done, but because of who He is” (Phillip Yancy).
In verse 10, the fish obediently spewed out this indigestible prophet. Many scholars believe that Jonah was brought back to Joppa. Just as in Monopoly they believe that Jonah was commanded to “Return to GO”. If this was the case, I think that Jonah’s arrival back at Joppa was likely during “rush hour”. In other words, he would have returned in full view of everyone so that, by the time he arrived in Ninevah, news of his miraculous deliverance would have preceded him, adding credibility and considerable weight to his message.
The most terrifying aspect of Jonah’s plight occurred when he realized that God almost gave him what he wanted-- that is, to be free from Him. Jonah wanted to run from God. The implications of that separation brought Jonah to repentance. He had rejected God, and it looked as though God was about to reject him! Jonah had been unwilling to say, “Thy will be done.” In the waters of the Mediterranean he realized the awful significance of hearing God say to him, “All right then—your will be done.” If we try to run from God He may grant our wish for awhile, but we will not want it. The belly of a fish was not a pleasant place to live, but it was a good place to learn .
Jonah returned to God, not as someone expecting special privileges, but as a rebel in need of forgiveness. In the depths of the sea he discarded his pride. The highest moment of our life is the moment when we kneel in the dust and turn to God, confessing our sins. May we seek the same mercy that rescued and forgave the prophet Jonah.
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asrwlIxLeko