Obedience When it Hurts // Vicky Hodson

I often have the conversation of the difference between being a “Believer in Jesus” and being a “Follower of Jesus”. As some will see these two statements as one in the same, they are actually very different.

My handy online dictionary tells me; Believe simply means accept (something) as true whereas to Follow means to act according to (an instruction). It is not enough for us to simply “Believe” in Jesus.

James 2:19, tells us “You believe that there is one God, Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.”

Believing in Jesus does not put us into action, but Following…that’s action.

Matthew 4:19, “Jesus said, ‘Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of people.’”

Fishers of people. Remember that nugget.

As we come to Jonah chapter 4, we have witnessed Jonah doing the opposite of following God. In fact, he is running from God. The Bible tells us that Jonah was a prophet. What is a prophet? Well I’m glad you asked! In Hebrew, the word means “spokesperson”. A prophet, is a spokesperson for God, our Father.

Telling the world of God’s messages. That was the calling God had put on Jonah’s life. We know that Nineveh was known to be savage and enemies of the Hebrews, which Jonah was. But God TOLD him to go. Go deliver the message so that they will be saved. So why did Jonah run from Nineveh when God asked him to go?

I wish I had the perfect answer for you, but I do not. As I studied this chapter it brought me to a place of self-reflection. The realization that in my humanness I often do things that are best for me and not best for the kingdom. It is easier for me to build walls and keep things away that threaten my peace the same way Jonah chose to run instead of being uncomfortable in facing his enemies.

Remember that nugget I told you to remember? Fishers of people? Building walls or running does not make us fishers of people. Instead, it can paralyze your effectiveness and delay people from entering the Kingdom of God. Ouch! Delay people from entering the Kingdom of God? There is no way I want to personally be responsible for that.

As a follower of Jesus (following His instruction), I want to be focused on Kingdom work. Even when people are rude, cruel, harsh, whatever adjective you would like to apply. God’s will is to save them all.

But why? Why does God want to save them, the evilest of evil? Simply put, we ALL are God’s creation.

Take a quick look at John 1:1-3;

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

If God created everything, who are we to mistreat any of it, including people? If we are truly followers of Jesus, we are to be like Jesus. We are to be the light. Even when our flesh says “no, protect yourself.”

Psalms 18:30, “As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.”

According to this scripture, God’s way is perfect, even helping those that have sinned against us. For when we do, this tells us that God will shield us.

When we get to chapter 4, we fully understand why Jonah ran and why he didn’t want to help. In fact, we see in Jonah that not only did he initially run, but when God did bring him Nineveh, Jonah was angry that God helped them. He wanted to see Nineveh parish instead of being saved. He could not get past his own humanness, his own feelings of hurt. In fact, he would rather die than see the undeserving people of Nineveh saved.

Jonah 4:1-3, “But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, ‘Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.’”

I mean that’s pretty extreme…but what are some things we do today when it comes to our enemies? Gossip, slander, avoidance? If God is clearly telling us to go and give a message we often choose to not obey. Giving a message doesn’t always mean a verbal message. We can give a message from God in our behavior. We can treat our enemies with respect because they are Gods creation. We can stop gossiping about them, we can stop talking ill of them, and we can be open to an opportunity to be in their presence if that is what God is calling us to do.

Jonah would rather have died than to obey. If we believe and follow Jesus, we know that our sin separates us from God. Being separated from God means spiritual death. Are we being disobedient of God’s will with our enemies? If we are, we like Jonah, would rather die, in our spirit, than help God’s creation.

I encourage you today to reflect on Jonah and his actions. Do you have enemies in your life that God is calling you to share a message with? Are you willing to EXCHANGE your inaction for action and the opportunity to be used by God? Spend time in prayer with God. Heal from past hurts and move forward into God’s perfect will for your life.

Vicky Hodson

Overthinking for Obedience // Sarah Mercado

I’m an overthinker. If overthinking were a sport, I’m pretty sure I would have a few gold medals. Seriously. My mental gymnastics game is Olympic level.

Give me a task, and I will analyze all the possible scenarios and their potential outcomes before I even consider starting the task. I tend to tie myself in knots thinking through things, even staying up late at night to spend even more time thinking about the task at hand, how I will execute it and all the problems I might encounter. It can be exhausting. I may even spend some time coming up with excuses as to why I shouldn’t do it at all or who I might be able to pass it off to. I will most likely procrastinate, and maybe even just try to get out of the whole thing.

When I read the story of Jonah, I see myself in him. He was given a task, he didn’t want to do, so he made up excuses and ran from what God wanted him to do. His reasons may be different than mine, but ultimately, I think Jonah was overthinking his situation.

God told him to go to Nineveh and deliver God’s message to the people there. Jonah immediately started overthinking the situation by inserting his own feelings and opinions into it, rather than just doing what God told him to do. He ended up in a difficult and scary situation, but God in His endless mercy, gave Jonah a second chance. That is where we pick up in Jonah Chapter 3.

God tells Jonah a second time to go to Nineveh and deliver His message to the people. This time Jonah obeyed and went straight to Nineveh. He delivered the message, and the people believed it. The king humbled himself and ordered everyone in the city to turn from their evil ways, stop all their violence and pray earnestly to God, in hopes that God would change His mind and hold back His anger from them.

“When God saw what they had done and how they put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.” Jonah 3:10

Ultimately, God decided not to destroy the city of Nineveh because of their belief in Him and the radical transformation that occurred in the people after they received His message.

This is the part that gets me. The message Jonah delivered to the people of Nineveh;

“Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” Jonah 3:4b

That’s it. The whole message in its entirety.

One sentence. Eight words. And God used it to transform an entire city for His glory.

Often when God asks me to do something, I overthink it, thinking it has to be some big, complicated thing. When all God wants is for me to obedient and trust Him to do the rest. The truth is that most times, what God wants me to do isn’t complicated at all. Much like with Jonah, it’s usually something simple and small that God wants to use to make a big impact. When I choose to obey and trust God instead of overthinking it, God can do some beautiful and amazing things.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6

This has been one of my favorite verses since I was a child. I often go back to it when I need a reminder of who is in control and that all I need to do is trust in Him instead of my own understanding. When I overthink something that God has told me to do, I am depending on my own understanding. If I can trust Him and seek His will instead if trying to understand everything, He will guide me and He will be able to use me to do far greater things than I can accomplish on my own.

I wonder if there is something God has asked you to do that you are running from or overthinking. If so, I pray that you would be able to EXCHANGE your overthinking for obedience and trust God’s will for your life. This is my prayer for myself as well. That we would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading, and obedient to what God asks us to do, trusting that He is the one in control and that He is able to take our small, imperfect acts of obedience and use them to further His kingdom.

Let’s believe this. And live it out together.

Rescuing Runaways // Mary Swafford

“Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow up Jonah.  And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.”  Jonah 1:17

As we saw in Jonah chapter one, God has asked Jonah to go and do something he clearly does not want to do (preach to the Ninevites their need to clean their rooms and change their ways!).  The prophet of God who has been faithful in previous instances, wants to do anything other than obey God's command to go to the Ninevites.  And so, Jonah runs away.

But God, our God, is a God who goes after him and does not wait for him to be ready for Him! 

Have you ever heard of “hindsight”?  

When I was growing up, my mom was always quoting these cliche sayings that drove me absolutely insane.  Some of them were silly; “If your right hand itches, you’re going to shake hands with a stranger.”, if you got a cold chill, “someone was walking over your grave.”  If she didn’t like the kind of friends I had, she’d say “birds of a feather flock together”.  And my least favorite, when I snuck around and called a boy on the phone (a boy I had been dating for a year mind you) she would say, “why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free!” There’s nothing like being called a cow by your own mom, but that's a whole other blog for another day…

She would also say, “hindsight is 20/20”.  I never understood that phrase when I was growing up.   But now I love the gift of hindsight and I cherish the times when God reveals himself to me.

Webster’s Dictionary defines hindsight as “understanding of a situation or event only after it has happened or developed.”

You see, in the middle of our rebellion or in the middle of our need to control the outcome, we’re unable to see God at work.  We are so short sighted that we can only see what we want and what we’re focused on.  It’s kind of like not being able to see the forest for the trees.  (Wink wink).  But God sees the whole picture from the end to the beginning and he orchestrates divine encounters all along the way.

God arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah at just the moment in time when Jonah had been thrown overboard and was sinking into the depths of the sea.  I imagine that he was at the point of no longer being able to hold his breath.  The pressure of the waters weighing on his body.  No longer able to hear anything other than the beating of his own heart.  Blinded by the darkness in the deep.  Jonah relinquishes control, his body no longer fighting, he surrenders and that’s the moment that it happens.  That’s when the fish swallows him.  Breath returns to his lungs, filling them at full capacity.  He’s surrounded by the safety and warmth of the fish’s belly and in the darkness inside is where Jonah has clear sight.  He can see the hand of God guiding him and leading him in the purpose and path God created for him.  

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish.  He said, I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me.  I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!  You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea.  The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.  Then I said, O Lord, you have driven me from your presence.  Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.”  Jonah 2:1-4

Here inside the fish, Jonah cries out to God.  Jonah has reached his point of desperate need and recognizes that only God can rescue him. Jonah is in full submission to God’s will for his life and not his own. 

This is true for you and I too.  We are all broken on our own, in our rebellion, yet God still rescues us.  He still forgives, redeems and loves any one who will turn to Him.  

“Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.”  Jonah 2:10

In his disobedience to God, Jonah experiences forgiveness when God rescued him from the fish.  At that point, Jonah has not proven himself worthy or committed or even changed.  All he had done was surrender and recognize his need for a savior.

And God, met him where he was at in the middle of his need and forgave Jonah and redeemed him. 

Jonah chapter 2 describes a man who is running from God, and a God that pursues him.  This chapter and all of scripture, shows us that God doesn’t despise the runaways, he rescues them.

Will you EXCHANGE your will for his and let him rescue you too?  

Delayed Obedience Is Disobedience // Mary Swafford

Have you ever tried to run away from God?  David talks about this in Psalm 139;

“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.  You know when I sit down or stand up.  You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.  You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.  You know everything I do.   You know what I’m going to say even before I say it, Lord.” Psalm 139:1-4

Is it possible to get away from God?  Can you move yourself far enough away that He can’t reach you?

When I was a kid, I used to get so mad when my parents would tell me to clean my room.  Usually it was because I already knew what state my room was in.  I already knew it needed to be cleaned, but I didn’t like them telling me to do it.

Similarly, in the first chapter, in the book of Jonah;

“The Word came to Jonah and told him to get up, go to Ninevah, that great big city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

In other words, it’s filthy in Ninevah and it needs to be cleaned up.  It’s been a mess for too long. 

And just like little Mary, Jonah didn’t want to be told it was his responsibility to clean the rooms of Ninevah.

“But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.  He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.  So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.”  Jonah 1:3

Little Mary couldn’t run away and charter a boat to get away from my parents authority or commands (actually I tried that once.  I stayed out all night instead of going home.  Dad called the police and reported my car stolen.  That was a long, bad night), but I could and did drag my feet, do other things, wait until the middle of the night and put it off as long as possible.

“I can never escape from your Spirit!  I can never get away from your presence!  If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.  If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.”  

Psalm 139:7-10

God called Jonah to go to Ninevah, which is east of Israel, but Jonah is sailing to Tarshish in the far west.  Jonah went in the direction furthest from where God wanted him to be.

“But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.”  Jonah 1:4

I was being disobedient to my parents by not cleaning my room when my parents asked (or coming home after prom my senior year).  Jonah was being disobedient to God by running away and not going to Ninevah.

The consequences of my disobedience caused me to be grounded and lose privileges for a long time.  It also caused my parents to lose trust in me.  The consequences of Jonah’s disobedience caused the entire crew of the ship to be put at risk of losing their lives.  It also caused them to throw Jonah into the sea in hopes of saving themselves.

But God. 

But God calmed the storm.  But God used His miraculous display of power to be his witness to the sailors who were in awe of him.  But God arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah and save his life.  But God used Jonah’s disobedience to bring salvation, to the sailors who witnessed God’s power firsthand and to the Ninevites through Jonah’s eventual obedience.

The Enemy wants our disobedience and he uses it for destruction.  Thank you Jesus that what the Enemy wants to use to harm us, God uses to bring glory and honor to him!

What has God called you to do in your life that you are putting off, running away from, dragging your feet on?  What does he want you to EXCHANGE that will bring glory and honor to him and perhaps salvation to others?

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”  Psalm 139:23-24

Don’t delay.  Surrender your will to the Lord today.  Delayed obedience is still disobedience.  God can and will use your long, bad night or three days in the belly of a fish to bring salvation to others.  Hallelujah!