Jon 4:2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
Jonah, a prophet of God was afraid!
He didn't want to be made to look like a fool! So he ran.
If you are not familiar with the story of Jonah you should go and read it, it's only four chapters, very quick read but loaded with spiritual instruction (Old Testament) . In this blog I want to focus on his fear and relate a current story from my life that is unfolding as I write.
God spoke to Jonah and told him to go witness to the folks down in Nineveh, a city that had become very corrupt. The message was a simple one, "God is going to destroy you if you don't change your evil ways". Jonah knew that God is a gracious and merciful God and that should there be even the slightest sign of repentance from the least of the partiers God would not bring the destruction that Jonah foretold.
So, he ran!
Problem is God is everywhere so there is no place to run to.
Jonahs fear was based in two things, his pride and his knowledge of God's character.
His pride knew that God would not bring the foretold destruction based on God's character and he didn't want to look like a fool who was hearing things, perhaps he justified his fear by thinking he was doing the right thing because it might make God look like a fool. That's an excuse I have used, I am not the worlds idea of a perfect Christian some have even accused me to my face of being a hypocrite, and honestly sometimes I am.
So, Jonah got sent to whale school (as a favorite pastor of mine likes to say). In the belly of that great fish he learned enough humility to graduate and went on to do as God asked , then his pride flared up again and demanded God kill him, God did not and he learned that God's approval not his fellow mans is what he needed to seek.
God has asked me to share the story of what is currently going on in my life with you and guess what, fear kicked in, I told Him "but what if the story doesn't end the way I want it to, the way you said it would, they will think I am nut's". He said, "What's that to you, follow me". So, here it is.
For several years now we have been wanting to sell our place in the country and move closer to town because of my wife's health issues . I began to pray about it some two years ago and kept getting the answer "no, I want you here", He wouldn't tell me why.
Well, three weeks ago the discussion came up again so I went to the Lord again and this time He said," yes" . I couldn't hardly believe my inner ears but we listed the house even though we were in the middle of a remodel of the kitchen, my wife felt it was ok because nothing on our ridge sells very quickly, in fact the last house that sold had been on the market for over two years.
At the end of the meeting with our broker, I turned to my wife and said," we will be in a new house by Christmas", I felt it was from God but didn't actually hear Him this time. That was Saturday, October 25 2014. On Wednesday, our broker had a prospect and he showed the house. We had an offer that evening and we made a counter offer which was accepted by friday. They don't want us to finish the kitchen, they want to do it. They also want to take possession by December 12th.
Will it all happen, I trust God, so it most likely will. So, next week, I may miss making a post since I will be fixing a few things that need to be done to pass an inspection and will be house hunting Saturday, Gods already picked a house for us but we have to find it, ( He has already told me wich one but my wife isn't sure).
As of Today," Yahweh the God Who Speaks and How to Hear Him" is available for purchase from createspace.com where you can find my other writtings by clicking on the picture of the cover
Jonah, a prophet of God was afraid!
He didn't want to be made to look like a fool! So he ran.
If you are not familiar with the story of Jonah you should go and read it, it's only four chapters, very quick read but loaded with spiritual instruction (Old Testament) . In this blog I want to focus on his fear and relate a current story from my life that is unfolding as I write.
God spoke to Jonah and told him to go witness to the folks down in Nineveh, a city that had become very corrupt. The message was a simple one, "God is going to destroy you if you don't change your evil ways". Jonah knew that God is a gracious and merciful God and that should there be even the slightest sign of repentance from the least of the partiers God would not bring the destruction that Jonah foretold.
So, he ran!
Problem is God is everywhere so there is no place to run to.
Jonahs fear was based in two things, his pride and his knowledge of God's character.
His pride knew that God would not bring the foretold destruction based on God's character and he didn't want to look like a fool who was hearing things, perhaps he justified his fear by thinking he was doing the right thing because it might make God look like a fool. That's an excuse I have used, I am not the worlds idea of a perfect Christian some have even accused me to my face of being a hypocrite, and honestly sometimes I am.
So, Jonah got sent to whale school (as a favorite pastor of mine likes to say). In the belly of that great fish he learned enough humility to graduate and went on to do as God asked , then his pride flared up again and demanded God kill him, God did not and he learned that God's approval not his fellow mans is what he needed to seek.
God has asked me to share the story of what is currently going on in my life with you and guess what, fear kicked in, I told Him "but what if the story doesn't end the way I want it to, the way you said it would, they will think I am nut's". He said, "What's that to you, follow me". So, here it is.
For several years now we have been wanting to sell our place in the country and move closer to town because of my wife's health issues . I began to pray about it some two years ago and kept getting the answer "no, I want you here", He wouldn't tell me why.
Well, three weeks ago the discussion came up again so I went to the Lord again and this time He said," yes" . I couldn't hardly believe my inner ears but we listed the house even though we were in the middle of a remodel of the kitchen, my wife felt it was ok because nothing on our ridge sells very quickly, in fact the last house that sold had been on the market for over two years.
At the end of the meeting with our broker, I turned to my wife and said," we will be in a new house by Christmas", I felt it was from God but didn't actually hear Him this time. That was Saturday, October 25 2014. On Wednesday, our broker had a prospect and he showed the house. We had an offer that evening and we made a counter offer which was accepted by friday. They don't want us to finish the kitchen, they want to do it. They also want to take possession by December 12th.
Will it all happen, I trust God, so it most likely will. So, next week, I may miss making a post since I will be fixing a few things that need to be done to pass an inspection and will be house hunting Saturday, Gods already picked a house for us but we have to find it, ( He has already told me wich one but my wife isn't sure).
As of Today," Yahweh the God Who Speaks and How to Hear Him" is available for purchase from createspace.com where you can find my other writtings by clicking on the picture of the cover
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