I am always a little suspect of Preachers, Speakers,
Bloggers or Facebook Posters who never have a bad day, never make a wrong
choice and have a way of looking down their collective noses at those of us who
are not so perfect. Get off your self-built
pedestal; GET REAL!!! To all my readers,
my blogs are the images I view in my mirror, of human faults and failings
surrounded by God’s endless mercy and grace.
For several months I have been struggling with an
issue. It has been the subject of many
discussions with Steve, usually ending with me weeping in despair. Many nights I have sprinkled my pillow with
tears and many mornings have found me on my knees in supplication. I have made many suggestions to God that I
believe would really improve the situation.
Although, I’m sure God was listening to all my amazing ideas, He didn’t
seem to want to try any of them.
FINALLY, this weekend, I saw a glimmer of light and realized God has
been working on things without my help. WONDERFUL!!!!
I am dancing and rejoicing…well, ok, I know I should be…it would be the
right thing.
Truthfully, instead of sitting on “top of the world” or feeling
as if a great weight had been lifted, I felt completely deflated. WHAT AM I GOING TO PRAY ABOUT NOW? For months, I have held this problem close; I
have caressed it as I wept and pleaded for God to intervene. It has provided many hours of conversation
and solution development but even more important, it has provided wonderful
EXCUSES FOR MY OWN INADEQUACIES AND LAZINESS.
What a comfort it is to be able to say, “Well at least I don’t…” or “I
just don’t understand; I could never...”
Isn’t it just like God to snatch my beautifully formulated excuses right
out from under my nose? WHAT WILL I PRAY
ABOUT NOW? How about forgiveness? YES, this morning found me on my knees
repenting and God was not only listening, this time He answered. HOW
GREAT THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR US!!!
A favorite Bible story for Sunday School kids is that of “Jonah and the Whale.” We learn that God commanded Jonah to go and
tell the inhabitants of Nineveh to repent or be destroyed. Jonah disobeyed and boarded a ship bound for
Tarshish instead; there was a big storm, Jonah was thrown overboard, swallowed
by a whale, spent 3 days in the whale’s belly, was regurgitated on to dry land,
and ultimately obeyed God by preaching in Nineveh. The story doesn’t end with the Sunday School
version, however. After Jonah preached,
all of Nineveh, even the animals fasted.
The people repented and God relented.
Jonah 3:10 Then God saw their works, that they turned
from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He
would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
Like any “Preacher of Righteousness,”
Jonah was on the mountaintop rejoicing and praising God; RIGHT? NOPE, Jonah felt just a little deflated, as
we read in Jonah 4:1-2 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and
he became angry. 2 So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not
this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to
Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in
lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. I find it
amusing that Jonah is angry with God for showing mercy until I take a look in
God’s mirror and see, not Jonah but my distraught face. I see my own lips mouthing the words of Jonah, “God,
it is just like you, after I’ve prayed all these months, you provide a solution. I knew you would do something like that. Now what will I pray about?”
There must be times when God looks down, shakes His head, rolls His eyes and asks, “will she ever learn?” God
says to Jonah in verses 4 and 9 “Is it right for you to be angry?” Then He graciously repeats the question to me
and reminds me that Jonah didn’t have himself for an example; I should know
better. So I repent, God forgives and I
rejoice. As to the question, “NOW
WHAT WILL I PRAY ABOUT?” My
email just sounded and sure enough; something important to pray about!
No comments:
Post a Comment