Have you ever felt like you were in the belly of a whale? You know overwhelmed with darkness and despair and unable to see the end, deep in the situation and unable to get out or even see out; a time where hope vanished and your hands were tied.
A time when your greatest aspiration was just to get out of it.
A time when you would gladly embrace your regular problems with open arms and where you would trade all the stuff in your garage (that has been there for years, unused and in most cases unusable) for just a glimmer of change to your situation.
A place where you would even give up your possessions if it meant escaping the circumstance.
Have you ever been through such a thing or are you going through one right now? Had Jonah not known the Lord, it would never had crossed his mind to pray and ask forgiveness for his sin. But Jonah did know God and so do you. Prayer is real and Jonah prayed himself right out of that big fish's mouth. You can pray yourself right out of the fish's mouth too. How do I know? I've prayed myself out of the fish's mouth. You can't get past fifty and have never had anything go wrong.
You know Jonah got himself thrown into the water in the first place. He wouldn't do what God wanted him to do and when the tempest came on the boat, he felt like he was the cause. He asked the others to throw him in the water, and they did. Jonah was guilty. You may or may not have been guilty, but you should know, whether you were guilty or not, when faced with the end results of being in the whales belly for three days, when the end looks eminent and any chance of outside help has dissipated, when there are no friends to call, no advocate available, God will listen.
- God will listen and God will answer.
- God will deliver
- God will re-assign you
- God will build you back up
- God will bless you and make you to shine
- God will increase you
- God will use you as an example of just how far you can come with God
Whether you got yourself in the belly of the whale on your own or your friends threw you there, you are only a prayer away from a whole new experience. Believe this and live well in the Lord, not in the belly of a whale.
Keith, I'm not sure about that, God does not listen to everyone, and neither will He deliver, re-assign or build you up etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't think that God uses anyone as an example.
Will He use a sinner as an example ?
Will He use me as an example ? I certainly don't think so.
The Lord Jesus Christ came to be an example and they did NOT believe Him, then why would they believe me ?
If God listened to Jonah, why not you or me? Jonah was moving away from the Lord and caused much pain and suffering to others and yet God listened to him and moved on his behalf. Of course Christ is the example and none of us hold a candle to emulate His worthiness, but we were all called to testify to what we know. Even Paul said How else would the unbelieving world hear of Jesus if not for our testimony, personal report of actual events between God and yourself. Of course God will use you as an example, sometimes of what to do and sometimes of what not to do, but God created us and all creation that he would lose none. Trust me when I say that none of us are worthy, but we are accepted into the beloved, rejuvenated by the Holy Spirit, we are the house in which the Holy Spirit resides, we are the temple of the Lord. It is true that many did not believe Jesus, but many did. Jesus is not showing Himself to people today physically. Others come to know Jesus through you and me.
ReplyDeleteI've always said to God, "I'm not much to work with, how can you expect any results/fruit to come from me?" God keeps reminding me that my sins have been forgiven and my slate wiped clean. God has empowered me, due to no effort of my own, to dig real deep in His mine of truths and uncover them and share them with everyone, and that is what I am going to do. You are empowered as well.
If God did not listen to every one, how would sinners come to Jesus. If their prayers are not heard no one would have a chance of making any forward progress with God. See Mat 8:5-10