Thought for April 16, 2024

  •  73: Masada falls to the Romans
  • 1881: Bat Masterson fights his final gun battle--Dodge City
  • 1900: Post Office issues its first "book" of postage stamps
  • 1922: Annie Oakley breaks 100 clay targets in a row
  • 1943: Psychedelic effect of LSD discovered
  • 1962: Walter Crokite begins anchoring CBS Evening News
  • 2007: Virginia Tech Massacre--32 killed, 23 injured
  • 2020: 22 million file for unemployment over a few weeks because of Covid
  • Born: Wilbur Wright, Charlie Chaplin, Peter Ustinov, Henry Mancini, Bobby Vinton, Dusty Springfield, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Bill Belichick, Ellen Barkin, Martin Lawrence
  • Died: Madame Tussaud, Alexis de Tocqueville, Edna Ferber, David Lean, Pat Summerall
Thought:
Have you ever just contemplated Jonah 1:17? Jonah has been thrown overboard into the sea far from land. And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah. Reading this one verse brings several things to my mind:
  • God knew Jonah would run from His presence. God knew Jonah would go to Joppa and get on a boat. God knew Jonah would try to go to Tarshish; God knew Jonah would be thrown into the sea. Yet, God appointed a great fish. This makes me think about God's plan, His sovereignty, His power, His timing. It reminds me that I may think I am drowning in a vast sea and no one knows or cares, but Got sees, God knows and He has a plan. This calls to mind that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He died before I was born and began sinning, yet His love and His plan provided for my rescue. 
  • God appointed a great fish. I smile when I think about the earlier verses. Jonah confesses that the Lord is the maker of the sea and land [1:9]. Yet, Jonah tries to use the sea God created to run from Him. And think about God's appointment--God sent a great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was not swallowed by the white whale of Herman Melville, He was swallowed by a fish on a mission from God. I am amazed that fish and donkeys follow God's command and I have such a hard time. Now think about the fish for a moment--the fish swallowed Jonah, but did not eat him. What did the fish gain from its obedience to the Lord? The fish was God's taxi, God's holding cell, God's training facility. Sometimes I want to know what I am getting out of serving the Lord. This fish served obediently and exactly as instructed by God. Maybe I need to use this fish as an example. 
  • Three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. Think about this experience. Why three days and three nights---because 700 years later, Jesus was going to use this picture to describe His death, burial, and resurrection. But I think there is more. Notice that it apparently took that period of time for Jonah to start praying. Our pastor often reminds us that prayer is not the last resort, but the first option. But then I think--sometimes it takes me days and nights and longer to turn to prayer. Suppose after three days and three nights, Jonah had not prayed the prayer in 2:1-9. Would he have died in the fish, been returned to the sea? We don't know, but I am grateful that the Lord gives us a second chance and is patient for us to confess and cry out to Him. 
In 1:17, I see God's plan, His provision, His patience, and His power displayed. Lord, help me to obey immediately , but thank You for being a God of second chances. 

Blessings
Larry

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