Morning Coffee With Renae

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

Jonah 2:3 “You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.

Have you ever been punished for something, and you knew you deserved the punishment?

Yeah, me too. And it’s not fun.

Yet, when I think back to the times, growing up, that my parents punished me, I know they didn’t enjoy the punishment. They didn’t punish me because they wanted to. They did it because they loved me, and they wanted something better for me than I had chosen for myself.

Friends, God loves us, just as He loved Jonah. He wants the very best for us, and His best includes submission and obedience to His Word. Jonah rebelled against God, and God called him on it.

Throughout scripture, we are reminded that God disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:5 – 6, Revelation 3:19, Proverbs 3:11 – 12). If He didn’t love us, He’d let us do whatever we wanted. He wouldn’t care. But God did care about Jonah. He had a good plan for Jonah’s life, and Jonah wasn’t following that plan. So God said, “Son, I love you too much to let you live in selfishness and rebellion. That won’t bring you the happiness and joy and peace you desire.”

And splash! Jonah was sent into the deep waters.

But while God’s discipline may seem harsh, He still takes care of us. He sent that giant fish along at just the right moment to swallow Jonah up. That in itself may have seemed like a punishment. But it was really God’s provision for a son that He loved. He made sure he was safe.

Sometimes, when we feel the splash of the icy cold water, when we find ourselves in the smelly, slimy, cold bowels of a nasty old fish, we need to open our eyes and hearts. We need to smile, knowing that our Father loves us – for He disciplines those He loves. He’s not being mean. He’s treating us like a Father treats His child – the child He adores, the child for which He wants nothing less than the very best.

Dear Father, Help me to obey You the first time, so I can avoid Your discipline. When I find myself being punished for something I’ve done, help me to recognize and remember that You discipline me because You love me. Help me to learn the lessons I need to learn, and not to repeat my mistakes. Thank You for loving me.

Amen

Jonah 2:2 He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”

I’ve had some pretty distressful experiences in my life. But honestly, I think Jonah has me beat. I have never been inside the belly of a huge fish, begging God for my life. Talk about distressful!

But it doesn’t matter to God. Whatever our distress level – high or low, large or small, God cares. No matter how far away He may seem, He hears us when we call out to Him. He listens to us, and He always answers us.

Oh, the answer may not always be what we want to hear. Sometimes, we ask Him for something, and He says, “No.” But no is still an answer, isn’t it?

Friends, no matter where we are or what our circumstances, we can call out to God. He hears us, and He is always a good listener. And because nothing is impossible with God, He very well may give us an answer we didn’t even think of.

Dear Father, Thank You for always listening and hearing me.

Amen