Morning Coffee With Renae

Jonah 2:1 “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.”

Have you ever found yourself inside the belly of a fish?

Well, I don’t mean literally. That would be highly unusual. But have you found yourself in a bad situation of your own making, and you didn’t have any idea how you were going to get out of it?

Yes, I have too. It’s not the most pleasant place to be, is it?

Jonah found himself curled up in that dark, stinky fish belly, and I’m sure he just wanted to die. He probably thought he was going to die, a slow, painful, disgusting death. Yet, for some reason, far below the surface of the water, God allowed Jonah to keep breathing. And since he had no particular place to go, other than where the fish carried him, he decided he might as well pray.

You know, I love the reminder that no matter where we find ourselves, God is always right there with us. We can talk to Him, and He will listen.

Not only that, but He longs to hear us call out His name. Sometimes, He will allow us to get exactly what we deserve, because He knows that then and only then will we cry out to Him. It was true in Jonah’s case, and it is true for us, as well.

Though we may find ourselves in the worst possible circumstances, God will continue to love us. He will continue to bless us, as He blessed Jonah with air. And when we call to Him, He hears us. Though our situation may seem helpless, God can deliver us. He has important plans for each of our lives, and He wants to see those plans through to the end.

So wherever you are, my friend, no matter how stinky and nasty, just keep praying.

God hears you. He is right there.

Dear Father,

I’m sorry for getting myself into difficult situations. Thank You for never leaving me, and for always listening to me when I call out to You.

Amen

Jonah 1:17 “But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.”

This is such a great story, isn’t it? It makes a wonderful bedtime story or children’s church lesson. But many people believe Jonah’s story is just that: a great story.

The Bible doesn’t teach this as a parable. Jonah was a real person, and he got swallowed by a real fish. He stayed there for three days and nights, praying. He should have died.

But then, he was delivered from death, so that he could bring the message of salvation to the lost people of Ninevah.

Sound familiar? It should. Jesus referred to Jonah’s stint in the bowels of that fish when he spoke of His own experience at Calvary. He would be swallowed by death for three days. Then, he would be delivered from death, so that He could deliver salvation to the lost.

Then again, some people think Jesus’ story is just a fable, too. But it’s not.

Friends, God’s purpose will not be swayed. He loves us passionately, and He is willing to go to great lengths – impossible lengths, if need be, in order to bring us to Himself. After all, nothing is impossible with God.

I’m glad God loved the Ninevites enough to put Jonah through three days in a whale’s belly so they could know Him. I’m glad He loved me enough to allow Jesus to be swallowed by death, and then brought back to life, so that I could know Him.

It’s the kind of stuff legends and fairy tales are made of. I’m so glad it’s the real deal.

Dear Father, Thank You for loving me so much. I love You, too.

Amen

Jonah 1:14 – 16 “Then they cried to the Lord, ‘O Lord, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O Lord, have done as you pleased.’ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.”

Jonah made a big mistake. Huge. But isn’t it great that God will work even through our mistakes?

These heathen sailors, who just moments before had cried out to their pagan gods, at last called out to the One True God! Yeah, sure. Jonah messed up. He wouldn’t have had to go through all the nastiness of living for three days in a whale’s guts, surrounded by dead fish and whatever other refuse happened to end up there, if he’d obeyed God in the first place. But God is sovereign no matter what choices we make. And God chose to work through this particular mistake of Jonah’s, so that these sailors might be introduced to Him.

Friend, have you messed up? Have you found yourself in a whale’s belly of your own making? Take heart. God may not have gotten you into the mess, but He can certainly get you out of it. In the meantime, He may just use your circumstances to perform a few miracles you weren’t expecting.

Dear Father, I’m sorry for making poor choices and getting myself into messes sometimes. Please forgive me and help me out of my messed-up circumstances. And while You’re doing that, please show Yourself to the people around me.

Amen

Jonah 1:13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.

This part of the story makes me feel downright ashamed. Jonah, who was a servant of the One true, compassionate, God, showed no compassion for the thousands of people in Ninevah who needed God’s love. But these sailors, who had little knowledge of our God, tried with all their might to save Jonah. They showed compassion, when Jonah should have been modeling that trait for them.

It makes me feel ashamed because, in our “Christian” culture, this same story seems to pop up again and again. Instead of compassion, we show judgment. We don’t like sinners, but we forget that we too are sinners. We don’t like people who are wicked and depraved. But in God’s eyes, we are every bit as wicked and depraved as the next guy.

Friends, God doesn’t call us to judge anyone. That’s His job, and He doesn’t need our help. He does call us to reach out to those around us with love, compassion and mercy.

Our job is to love. Period.

His job is to judge.

It’s a downright shame when people who don’t even know God show more compassion than we who know Him. But the truth is, in order to show true compassion, we have to rub shoulders with people who make us uncomfortable. Just as Jonah didn’t want to go hang out with the Ninevites, we often don’t want to hang with alcoholics or drug addicts or adulterers or criminals or people with “less than respectable” diseases. It’s easier to write them off. It’s easier to judge them.

Shame on Jonah, and shame on us. I want to stop trying to do God’s job. I’m not very good at it. I want to do my job – loving people – the best I can.

Dear Father, I want to show compassion and mercy to all people, the way You do. Forgive me for judging people. Help me to love them.

Amen

Jonah 1:11 – 12 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

Have you ever confessed to something, and tried to make things right, only after you’d been caught? At that point, when everyone already knows you are guilty, it’s a little late. Sure, you might be able to make some restitution, but it would have been a lot better if you’d ‘fessed up before you’d been caught.

That’s what happened to Jonah. He knew he’d disobeyed God. He knew he’d caused the storm, and that it was putting everyone in danger. But it was only after they’d cast lots and Jonah was found to be the guilty party that he said, “It’s my fault.”

Then, he offered to give his life for them.

Interesting.

Jonah wasn’t willing to go to Ninevah and offer God’s love to thousands of people, but he was willing to be thrown overboard to save a few sailors.

Noble? Maybe.

But I’m thinking his hatred for those Ninevites must have run pretty deep. After all, God didn’t ask him to give his life for them. He just said to go and tell. But Jonah didn’t want to go and tell, because he didn’t want them to know God’s love. He hated them that much.

Hatred had tainted Jonah’s outlook. He couldn’t see the bigger picture. He refused to acknowledge that the Ninevites were just people who needed God every bit as much as the Jews did.

I wonder . . . what kinds of attitudes are tainting my outlook? What kinds of fears and prejudices and ideas are causing me to see things irrationally?

I want to see things from God’s perspective, not my own.

Dear Father, I love you. Forgive me for letting my own ideas about things cloud my perspective. Help me to see things from your point of view.

Amen

Jonah 1:9 – 10 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

I have about forty billion cousins. First cousins, even.

Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but only slight. With eight in my mother’s family and seven in my dad’s, let’s just say there was always somebody to talk to at the family gatherings.

On one such occasion, when I was a teenager, I walked down an old dirt road with a distant cousin. This cousin didn’t share my belief in an Almighty God, but he was respectful. We simply talked of other things.

Eventually, the conversation led to my fourteen-year-old vanity, complaining about my hair and and my nose and so on. Who knows what drives fourteen-year-old girls to lament those things, but that’s another topic for another day. The thing I remember most about that conversation is my cousin stopping in the road and saying, “I thought you were a Christian.”

I was taken aback. I couldn’t connect the dots or follow his thought pattern. “I am a Christian,” I told him.

“Then why do you care so much about the way you look? If you’re a Christian, aren’t you supposed to be more concerned about what you look like on the inside?”

For shame.

Sometimes, those who don’t even serve God can see Him more clearly than we who claim a relationship with Him. Sometimes, we get caught up in how we want things to be, how we think things are supposed to be, and we lose our focus. No wonder so many people in the world think that Christianity is lame.

Jonah’s shipmates asked him, “What have you done?” Those heathen men could see what Jonah was almost flippant about. You don’t mess with the One True God.

It makes me sad to think that some might look at my life and say, “I thought you were a Christian,” or even, “What have you done, rebelling against your God?”

I pray that I will have eyes that see clearly past the haze of religious expectations and selfish desires to the bigger picture. I serve the Almighty God.

Dear Father, I pray that my actions will always reflect reverence for You, never flippant disregard.

Amen

Jonah 1:8 “So they asked him, ‘Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?’”

Have you ever felt hesitant or embarrassed to reveal certain things about yourself, for fear others would think poorly of you? I have. I remember once when I was the victim of some pretty nasty gossip, I didn’t want to show my face. Whenever I met new people, I didn’t want them to know who I was or where I was from. Though the rumors were untrue, I still felt shamed.

I guess deep down, Jonah must have felt ashamed, too. After all, he was God’s prophet. Usually, prophets were known for telling everyone they met about God. But Jonah hadn’t said a word. He didn’t want them to know anything about him, probably because he felt ashamed of his actions.

I wonder . . . am I telling everyone I know about God’s goodness and love? Am I proclaiming to all that I am His child? If not, I should really ask myself why.

Often, we don’t tell others about our relationships with God because we feel embarrassed or ashamed. Just as Jonah remained quiet about his relationship with God, we are somehow afraid of what others will think of us. But I don’t want to be embarrassed by my relationship with God. Instead, I want the whole world to know how awesome He is!

Dear Father, Please forgive me for times when I’ve felt ashamed or embarrassed by you. I want to serve you with my whole life.

Amen

Jonah 1:7 “Then the sailors said to each other, ‘Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.’ The cast lots and the let fell on Jonah.”

I’m not a big fan of gambling, and neither is my husband. But years ago, there was one particular member of our church who played the lottery regularly. He always assured us that if he won, he’d buy the church a brand new bus.

More than once I heard my husband say to that man, “I sure wish you wouldn’t throw your money away, brother. But since you choose to throw it away, I’m praying you win!”

This passage in Jonah isn’t making a case for – or against – casting lots or playing the lottery. Rather, it assures us that God is Sovereign. Most times, when a bunch of heathen sailors decided to gamble, I feel pretty certain that God stayed out of the process altogether. But in this case, He chose to intervene. The lots fell to Jonah, and that set into motion a string of events which eventually led to Jonah’s obedience, and ultimately, to the repentance of Ninevah.

Sometimes, God chooses to work in strange ways. He pursues us, just as He pursued Jonah, and He will move heaven and earth to get our attention, if needed. He will send storms and control dice and send giant sea creatures to swallow us, if that’s what it takes to bring us to Him.

The lots fell to Jonah. Coincidence? Maybe. But I don’t think so. Just as He had a purpose for Jonah, God has a purpose for each of us. We can follow Him willingly, or we can gamble with our destiny, like Jonah did. Jonah ended up with bleached-out skin from being in a whale’s belly . . . but that’s probably not going to happen to me. Then again, I’m not sure I want to take that chance . . .

Dear Father, Thank You for pursuing me even when I defy You. Please help me to obey You without a fight.

Amen

Jonah 1:5 – 6 “All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”

It’s a common misconception among Christians that when we sin against God, we will be miserable. We will feel shame and guilt, and we won’t be able to sleep. But as you can see by Jonah’s example, that’s not always true.

Jonah had blatantly disobeyed God. He was flat-out defiant, and he slept just fine. As a matter of fact, in a boat full of pagans, Jonah was the only one who could sleep.

The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart is deceptive above all things. The term, “Follow your heart,” isn’t always a safe thing, for our hearts, our consciences will pretty much convince us of whatever we want to believe. We can justify any action, no matter how wrong, and sleep just fine.

Instead of following our hearts, which can be deceptive and rebellious, we need to follow God. Our own choices may be wrong, or they may be right. But God’s guidance is always right. The only way we can never go wrong is to follow God. We can’t follow our hearts or our consciences or our desires, for we will surely end up, at some point, making the wrong choices.

Jonah’s heart told him that the Ninevites were worthless, wicked people, and that they didn’t deserve God’s mercy and grace. He truly convinced himself that He was acting wisely  and justly by refusing to preach to them. So when He got on that ship, he didn’t have any trouble taking a nice, long nap, even in the midst of a violent storm.

Nope. We can’t follow our hearts, for our hearts are deceitful. We can’t follow our desires, for our desires will surely lead us astray. The only way we can make the right choice, every single time, is to follow God.

Dear Father, Please forgive me for the times I’ve made wrong choices and tried to justify them. Help me to make the right choices by following You.

Amen

Jonah 1:4 “Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.”

I was in the seventh grade – finally allowed to go to camp with our church youth group. We made the long trekk across Texas and into New Mexico on an old Greyhound bus. And the bathroom on that bus was . . . not working properly.

The smell was atrocious. But I, being the brilliant girl that I was, had some Babe perfume in my purse. I thought surely, if I sprayed some perfume, the sweet smell would cancel out the foul odor.

I was wrong.

Now, instead of just plain old stink, we had nose-stinging, throat-burning stink. My unwise choice affected not only me, but everyone on the bus. The entire group of teenagers, sponsors, bus driver . . . everyone had to pay for my mistake.

Jonah made a bad decision. And more often than not, when we make bad decisions, we aren’t the only ones affected. Just as the violent storm threatened every man on Jonah’s ship, our bad choices bring unwanted consequences to those around us.

When we choose to sin, we invite stress and sadness and hurt into our lives. Those storms affect our families, our friends, even the people with whom we work. In some cases, our actions can affect total strangers.

I don’t know about you, but after reading about Jonah’s storm, I feel a much greater responsibility to obey God. My children don’t deserve to have to weather the storms of my poor choices. My family and friends shouldn’t have to pay for my foolishness.

I’m glad we each have a choice. And from now on, to the best of my ability, I’m going to try to make the choices that will bring positive results to myself and those I love.

I choose to obey God.

Dear Father, Please forgive me for foolishly disobeying you. I know my poor choices affect the people around me. Please help me to make wise choices.

Amen