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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Away from God Pt II

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But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard [2] to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

So what just happened here?  Well, because Jonah disobeyed God, He brought a storm to the waters.  Now, in our own life, when we disobey God and remove ourselves "from His Presence," God's gotta do something to make us realize what we've done even if we are not recognizing it.  Sometimes we DO know what we're doing wrong, but we still do it anyway.  So He sends a storm to shake us up, to open our eyes.

Now these guys threw him out to sea in an attempt to save themselves because they knew it was Jonah's fault.  Jonah told them of his faith and of his choices in how he had disobeyed God.  The scripture says that they cried out to their gods... not God, at first.  But by Jonah admitting his faults, and by telling them to sacrifice him and give up his life in order to save theirs, it is then that they start crying out to the One True God!  Sounds to me that, in our self-sacrifices, God will bring people to know Him.  They actually "feared" the Lord.  If they feared Him, they certainly believed in Him.

So when you find yourself in a situation where you know God is asking you to do something, do it.  But if the damage is already done, then offer yourself up to God, and He will certainly use you for His Greater Purpose.

In love, Tara K

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