“Yes, Lord”

Jonah 1:17: “Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”

God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to warn them of His coming judgment in the hopes that they would repent and be spared. But Jonah didn’t want to warn them, so he set out to escape God’s call, heading out by boat in the opposite direction toward Tarshish. But God didn’t let him get away with it. After being thrown into a stormy sea, the Creator directed a large fish to rescue Jonah from drowning and put him back on the road of obedience toward Nineveh.

God has many different and creative ways to help His disobedient children come to their senses and start following Him again. Jonah spent 3 days and nights in darkness before his stubbornness turned to repentance and compliance. But through it all, his heavenly Father preserved him because He had given Jonah a mission and a message to give to others. God is always present with us, and even though His presence is unseen, it is still more real than life itself.

A couple were taking a cross-country trip when their car suddenly wouldn’t go over 50 miles per hour. They pulled over, looked under the hood, but couldn’t find anything wrong. Back on the road, where the speed limit was 70 miles an hour, they struggled along at 50, as frustrated cars passed and honked at them. They prayed for the car to start working properly, but it continued on, 20 miles below the speed limit. They rounded a corner and came upon a multi-car wreck, and quickly realized that if their car had been going at the speed they wanted it to go, they would have been a part of that wreck. Shortly after passing the accident, their car began to run normally, and they resumed their normal speed. God was watching over them. Do you have some place that God is sending you, but you are struggling with going? Have you gone to some Tarshish; knowing it’s the exact opposite of where God wants you to go? Don’t wait for God to send a big fish into your life, just simply say, “Yes, Lord” and go.

“LORD, we chose life and Your will for our lives this day, in Jesus’ name.”