The God of Second Chances

"The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai. 2 Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because their evil has come up before Me. 3 Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the LORD's presence."    Jonah :1-17   Christian Standard Bible

Jonah heard the call from God to go and preach to the City of Nineveh but, instead, turned tail and grabbed a boat which was on route to Tarshish. Jonah would have been aware of the people's reputation there; they were violent and would torture, murder and leave the body on display in the streets. He would obviously have been afraid or concerned at least. He also resented the townsfolk being saved because of all this. Nineveh was also a great Assyrian city, and he felt if they were to repent and escape God's judgement, they could eventually attack and conquer Israel.

So Jonah ran off to Tarshish - away from the LORD's presence. But as they usually do in these circumstances, things began to go wrong as soon as the boat sailed. A great storm hit them threatening to cause them to sink. The petrified pagan sailors started to throw things overboard and eventually considered that Jonah was the reason for all of this. The captain challenged Jonah to pray to his God, which he refused. When they all discovered that Jonah was fleeing from God, they panicked and after speaking with Jonah, threw him over the side. They even prayed that God would forgive them for such an act. At once, the water calmed and all was well. A big fish swallowed Jonah and swam off. 

We can't just runaway from God; He will do all He can to bring us back to Him and this, is what He did with Jonah. Like Jonah, we do not know what is best, only God does. Jonah was rebellious, judgemental, fearful and disobedient. In this time of backsliding, he became very sulky and began to feel sorry for himself because he couldn't get his own way and just refused to speak with God. We can shout and stamp our feet, scream, swear and refuse to read our bibles but, God is still in control and waits for us to calm down. He will have His way. Jonah wouldn't pray so God caused the pagan seamen to pray and they witnessed the power of God and a miracle. I often wonder if they began to believe from this point. I believe it was possible.

God could have pulled the plug on Jonah but He didn't, instead Jonah had a trip in the stomach of a whale. Think about it, that must have been a foul and smelly place to be. God really has a sense of humour. However, this was all Jonah suffered because, God is the God of Second Chances. He never gives up on us

Just stop and think for a moment, can you relate to Jonah's behaviour? Have you been like this, even a little? Do you need a second chance. Say this prayer:

Father God, I know that I have blown things in lots of ways. Please forgive me and rescue me from the belly of this fish. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and give me a second chance to serve You. In Jesus' name, I ask. Amen.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                 

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