Jonah: How Marvelous, How Wonderful

How I identify with Jonah.  Every single trait of his that displeased God, I possess.  First, I always run as far as I can from any confrontation and telling people what God has said to them, that is nearly impossible for me to do.  Sometimes, I think I'm more a man pleaser than a God pleaser an as a result, I've been thrust into those dark places Jonah experienced.   I haven't been in the belly of a great fish, but I've found myself in some places where I could not escape on my own power, places where only God's grace could vomit me out.  Then there is Jonah's reaction to the repentance of the people of Nineveh.  I may not have sat down on a hill to watch what would happen to the sinners whose cry for forgiveness God has heard, but I've been skeptical in my own right and even jealous perhaps when others turn their lives around so easily when I've had to fight for every bit of holiness that I have.   So there you have it.  I am not now and never have been a savior, but I know one who is and he knows me.  He knows me and yet he carried every one of my sins to a cross and then to a grave where they were buried forever.  How marvelous, how wonderful.

2010 Post - Jonah:  A Whale of a Story