Morning Coffee With Renae

Jonah 3:6 “When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.”

When most of us think of Jonah’s story, we think of the miracle of one man being trapped in a fish’s belly for three days, and surviving. That is truly a miracle, a feat only God Himself could accomplish, and it certainly makes a great story. However, the book of Jonah holds within its pages an even greater miracle – one which often gets overshadowed by our preoccupation with the fish.

It is the miracle of repentance.

Never in history, before or after this story took place, has such a massive revival occurred. The entire city repented! And it wasn’t just some tiny little dot on a map. Nineveh was a huge city, and every last person there heard God’s message and immediately felt sorry for the way he had behaved.

Even the king.

Even the king.

Friends, do you understand what a great miracle takes place in verse six? The ruler of an evil, sin-filled, drunken, pornographic society (sound familiar?) heard God’s message and rose from his throne. He removed himself from his place of authority.

Next, he took off his royal robes, thus placing himself at the same level as any other commoner. He replaced those soft, fine, colorful, luxurious robes with sackcloth, which was a harsh, course fabric. It was uncomfortable and itchy. It was ugly. And it was worn by people who were at the lowest place of their lives.

Then, he sat down in the dust. No more throne for him! He humbled himself. He made himself physically dirty and low to show that he understood his spiritual state. He was spiritually dirty, spiritually as low as he could get in comparison with the Most High God.

This was the king.

Friends, I feel convicted just writing this. I am not royal by birth. I’m not a great political figure, nor am I a superstar. There’s nothing about me that makes me important, by the world’s standards. I have nothing on this king of Nineveh.

And yet, I’m not sure I’ve ever humbled myself the way he did. As I read this passage, I have to ask myself a few questions.

Do I really understand who I am, in comparison to God?

Do I understand how spiritually low and dirty I am?

Have I ever truly comprehended the depth of God’s grace and mercy?

Do I realize the impact God’s forgiveness has had on my life?

As I ponder these questions, I am beginning to see that I need to imitate that king’s actions. I need to remove myself from the throne of my life. I need to remove any attitude of self-importance, and throw myself at the feet of the Almighty. Then, and only then, can I bask in the joy that will come when He lifts me up, draws me to Himself, and says, “Welcome home, my child.”

Dear Father, I repent. Thank You for Your forgiveness and mercy.

Amen

Jonah 3:4 – 5 “On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.’ The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jonah must have thought on the eve of that first day. Exhausted after spending several days in the belly of a fish, he had somehow found the energy to drag himself to Nineveh. After all, he might as well get this over with. God wasn’t going to let him off the hook, but Jonah knew, he simply knew those blasted Ninevites would never listen to him.

He was wrong. God had given them forty days, but they repented on the first. The very first day! Obviously, in spite of their sinful lifestyle, they were ready and open to receive God.

Man.

That blows a lot of my excuses right out of the water. So many times, I avoid sharing God’s message with people because I think, “He’ll never listen,” or “She has no desire to change her ways and start living for God.” I guess that’s why God didn’t call me to be the judge. Only He can see straight to men’s hearts.

Nope. I’m not the judge. I’m simply the messenger, sent to share God’s message of love and hope and peace with the world. My job is to be ready and willing to obey God, pointing people to Him without worrying about their response.

The results of that kind of willing obedience may very well surprise me.

Dear Father, I’m sorry for failing to share Your love with people. Forgive me for trying to take over Your job, judging people when You’ve only asked me to share Your love with them. Help me to be willing and ready to point others to You.

Amen

Jonah 3:3 “Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city – a visit required three days.”

I will never forget my first visit to New York. As a native Texan, I was accustomed to wide open spaces and mile upon mile of open land. I knew that New York was much smaller in actual measurement than Texas, yet I had heard how “big” the place was.

When I got there, I figured out how they packed so many people in such a small place. Everything goes up. Skyscrapers are everywhere, and if you are standing in the middle of the a street, it is difficult to see even one block over.

Like New York, Nineveh’s name referred to both the city and the district. The city, which was about eight miles across, was home to about 175,000 people. The district of Nineveh was somewhere between 30 and 60 miles across. Since Jonah was probably traveling on foot, it was going to take him a few days to do what he had to do.

Poor Jonah. He was tired. He didn’t want to be there in the first place, and now he was probably having post-traumatic stress. After three days in the belly of a fish, expecting to die a slow, tortuous death, I’d have been ready for a relaxing week at a hospital somewhere, letting the kind nurses take care of me.

But Jonah knew what was required of him, and he did it. He’d had his time of running from God, and he’d learned his lesson. God said, “Go to Nineveh, and tell them about me.” So Jonah did it.

As stubborn as Jonah was in the beginning, I think I’m more stubborn. I often know what God wants me to do, but I don’t want to do it, so I don’t do it. God can do everything in His power, it seems, to reign me back into His will, yet I still turn my back on Him. I still do exactly what I want to do, instead of surrendering to God and doing what is required of me.

Oh, I surrender to Him as long as it’s convenient. But when He asks me to do something hard, I often put it off and off and off. I like to call it procrastination. God calls it disobedience.

I’m glad Jonah obeyed God, even if his obedience was a little late. After all, delayed obedience is better than no obedience. I hope I can get to the point where I will obey God, no matter how big or inconvenient the task, right away.

Dear Father, I’m sorry for my disobedience. I’m sorry for my procrastination. Please help me to obey You immediately when I hear Your voice.

Amen

Jonah 3:1 – 2 “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.’”

Have you ever messed up big-time, and wished you could have a do-over?

I have. Plenty of times. Sometimes, in the little things like a friendly game of checkers or softball, we might be able to wrangle enough sympathy out of our peers to let us try again. But in the big things in life, like a championship tournament, we rarely get second chances.

Or so it seems.

But I’m here to tell you, friends, that God isn’t keeping score! He gives second chances. And third chances and fourth chances . . . His goal isn’t to beat us. His goal is to see us succeed in becoming who He created us to be. His goal is to watch us fulfill His purpose in our lives.

At times, life can feel like a live, one-act play. We get one shot at that particular audience, and if we fail, they (God) will boo us off the stage. But with God, our lives are more like movie-making. When we mess up, He lets us try again.

That’s why He gave Jonah a second chance at obedience. He didn’t want Jonah to die in that fish’s belly, and He didn’t want Jonah to live the rest of his life feeling like a failure. So He got out his black-and-white film clapper and said, “Take two.”

Is there something in your life that you’ve messed up? Have you made a choice that has landed you in a big-ol’ smelly mess of fish intestines? Hang on, my friends. There is hope. The God of second chances knows exactly where you are. He sees you. And He’s got plenty of film left.

Dear Father, Thank You for giving me second and third chances when I mess up. Help me to listen to You and obey, so I get it right next time.

Amen

Jonah 2:10 “And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.”

My son likes this part of the story because it’s gross. And he’s seven. And seven-year-old boys like anything gross.

But I like this part of the story because of that first little phrase: And the Lord commanded the fish.

And the fish did it.

Man.

Friends, our God is so powerful, He commands all of nature. And all of nature obeys Him. All of nature, that is, except . . .

Us.

You see, He gave us free will. He chooses to love us, and He wants us to choose to love Him back. He’s not going to force us, for He knows that forced obedience never equals love.

I do love Him, with all my heart! Yet, I don’t always show it. I don’t always obey Him. Oh, if I could only be like that fish! If only I would hear God’s command and obey – no hesitation, no bargaining, no stopping to weigh my options.

My life would be a whole lot simpler, that’s for sure.

But with chosen obedience, with chosen loyalty to God comes great rewards. My prayer is that my heart will be so in tune with my Father that I will, like that fish, simply hear and obey.

Dear Father, May my choices always honor You.

Amen

Jonah 2:9 “But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the LORD.”

How far does God have to go to get your attention? I wish I could say I responded to His every whisper, but that would be a gross untruth. Sometimes, He has to shout and clang pots in my ears and throw all sorts of banana peels in my path just to get me to stop and pay attention to Him.

I guess I’m a lot like Jonah. He had to spend a few nights in smelly, slimy fish guts to finally surrender to God. Yet, he did surrender. And when he surrendered, he felt such relief that he began to sing and praise and thank God.

Friends, why do we fight so hard against God? He loves us. He wants only what is best for us. But we run and kick and scream and fuss and holler. We want our own way, even when our own way leads us away from the good things God has for us.

I have learned, and am still learning, that there is joy in surrender. Total, complete surrender to God brings freedom. It brings healing. It brings joy, and puts a song in our hearts.

My goal is to reach the point of surrender before I wind up in the fish guts of life. But even then . . . oh, even then my friend . . . surrender is sweet.

Dear Father, I surrender. I praise You, I thank You for Your goodness, and I surrender to whatever You have for my life.

Amen

Jonah 2:8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”

Wow. This is an interesting twist that Jonah’s prayer makes. It’s kind of random, considering he’s in the belly of a smelly, slimy fish, crying out for his very life. Why does he suddenly think of other people who worship idols?

Maybe he was thinking of the Ninevites. After all, weren’t they the reason he had run from God in the first place? They worshiped idols. Perhaps God was speaking to Jonah’s heart, in the depths of the sea, about their need for God’s grace.

Or perhaps he was thinking of the kind sailors who didn’t want to throw him overboard. After all, Jonah didn’t know for sure what happened after he went Splash! Those were good men. But without God, they were lost. Without God, they would miss out on some pretty amazing grace. Grace is defined as all the good things God gives us, that we don’t deserve.

I don’t pray to little statues, the way people in Jonah’s day did. But I do battle idols. I put things before my relationship with God – things like my job, my responsibilities, my family, my status . . .

Oh, I don’t mean to let those things creep in and steal God’s place in my life. But unless I continually push them back where they belong, they do creep in. Sometimes just an inch at a time, until they are front and center in my heart, and I didn’t even notice them.

But I want God’s grace. I need His grace. I’m lost without it.

Dear Father, Thank You for Your grace shown to me. Please forgive me for allowing things to come between You and me. I don’t want to allow anything to take Your place in my life.

Amen

Jonah 2:7 “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.”

Remember the saying, “Hindsight is better than foresight?” So true. Jonah was writing this from hindsight. He had already been delivered from that fish’s intestines. He had visited the dark side, and lived to tell about it.

Sometimes, I feel like my life is ebbing away. At times I feel like death would surely be better than some of the messes I find myself in. Oh, don’t worry. I’m not suicidal. Just keepin’ it real.

But somehow, no matter how overwhelmed I may feel, God always gives me the strength to call out to Him. Even if it is a silent cry, God hears. His connection is even better than Verizon Wireless.

And friends, I want you to listen very closely. God hears, and He listens. Every single word, every groan, every helpless sigh is important to Him. He leans forward when we call Him, and says, “Listen! It’s (your name here).”

And I want you to know something else, too. You are top priority to the King of Kings. You are His child, and He loves You. Oh, He is more concerned about our souls than our circumstances, and He allows us to go through some hard things, in order to shape us into His image. Sometimes, He allows us to go through things just so we will call out to Him.

But He will never forget us, and He will never allow us to be destroyed, as long as we keep trusting in Him. Keep calling out to Him. He can hear you.

Dear Father, Thank You for listening to my prayers. Thank You for hearing my silent cries. I trust You.

Amen

Jonah 2:5 – 6 “The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.

To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you brought my life up from the pit,
O LORD my God.

When I was a little girl, my family and I visited some natural caverns. Down, down, down into the earth we went, darker and darker, colder and colder until the guide finally turned her flashlight out. I can remember squinting through the dark to see my hand in front of my face.

Nothing but black.

Have you ever felt like your life was nothing but black? Have you ever found yourself sunk so deeply into a pit that you thought there was no hope of ever finding your way out?

I have good news for you, my friend.

God can see in the dark. And He is on His way to rescue you.

You see, we are precious to God – more precious than anything. And even if our arrival in that pit was our own fault, because of our own disobedience or stubborn rebellion, God wants to help us find our way out. He will even carry us out, if we can’t walk on our own.

Time and again, God has delivered His people from pits. He delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. He delivered Jonah from a fish’s intestines. He sent His own Son to deliver you and me from the consequences of our sin. And one day He will ride up on a white horse to deliver us all from this sin-infested world.

Wherever you are, my friend, don’t give up. Hang in there. Call out to God. He is already on His way.

Dear Father, Thank You for being my hero, and for delivering me from life’s pits. Please help me to have faith in You, knowing You love me and will rescue me.

Amen

Jonah 2:4 “I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’”

Have you ever felt hopeless? Jonah had every reason to feel that way. Seriously. He was praying this prayer from inside a fish’s intestines. Ew.

Yet, he had hope. He said, I will look again toward your holy temple. He may have had an idea of what God was up to. He may have felt that somehow, someway, God was still going to send him to Ninevah.

Or, he may have simply known that as a child of God, we are never without hope. No matter our past, no matter our present circumstances, for the child of God, our futures are always bright. We will stand in God’s presence one day, and it will be a beautiful thing when we do. We have every good thing to look forward to.

Sometimes, it may seem like we’ve been banished from God’s sight, but that’s not true. God promised Moses and Joshua that He’d never leave them or forsake them (Joshua 1:5), and He makes the same promise to us in Matthew 28:20. No matter what we do, regardless of our sin or our circumstances, God is with us. He was with Jonah in the belly of that fish, and He is with me, with you in whatever mess of smelly intestines we may find ourselves.

Though I forget, though I feel sorry for myself and cry my eyes out, I want to be like Jonah. I know I can rest in the assurance of hope in God, no matter what.

Dear Father, Thank You for giving me hope, even in the most hopeless of situations.

Amen