Awaken

"10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land." (Jonah 2:10 ESV)

 Sometimes we get it.  We understand that life is not solely about our comfort.  We see that when we are called to be something or do something it is better to do it than wait to see.  Sometimes we have to be surrounded by death and despair, to realize our error. 

A phrase that makes me cringe is "If I had it to do over, I wouldn't change a thing.  I am today what I am because of that."  I absolutely hate that phrase.  Where does that really work?

• "If I had known that I was going to get a flat on this road today, I would still have done it anyway."
• "Man,  Taco Bell really cleaned me out.  Spent all day paying for it.  I am so much wiser for that."
• "That guy took my life's savings  with his "Ocean Front Property".  Good thing I had that experience."

Seriously, why don't we own up to our situations more frequently?  Why is it that we would rather create a faux world of great reward, than to admit it was just a bad- even stupid decision.  The song of thanksgiving from the stomach of the ocean is a great example of what happens to a person who is willing to admit he was wrong. 

Jonah's disobedience nearly killed the crew of the SS Tarshish until they acted in obedience and threw him overboard.  Now Jonah, in the depths of death - that is what  the imagery of the "roots of the mountains" and "the earth beneath barred me in forever" imply-  knew there was no more hope for him.  All was lost.  All was gone.   He was thrown off the ship into the pit. However, it was here that Jonah "remembered" the LORD. 

But don't think that the LORD crossed Jonah's mind in the final moments of death in the same way "every rose has its thorn" calls you to remember that person who shredded your heart so many years ago. (But if you had it to do over again...) No Jonah "remembered" the LORD of all creation.  The LORD who had sent him out in the first place.  The LORD who delivered the crew of the Black Pearl from imminent death.  The LORD who had delivered Israel, time and time again.  The LORD who is the maker of heaven and earth. Jonah "remembered" the LORD and the LORD brought his life up from the pit. 

See life is not what we make it. It is not how we use our skills or even how we develop our talents.  Life is granted to us from the LORD.  While we work hard to validate our lives, the LORD validates our lives when we call out to him.  Jonah understood this only when he was finally in a place where his wisdom, insight, history, even "calling" could no longer bail him out.  The only one who could:  The LORD.  It seems fitting that Jonah did not even pray when the crew of Cowering Menace called him to, but they did.  Strange how the "hopeful" fail to pray until no sense of hope exists.  Even more fitting that when they do:

1. The LORD hears them.
2. Redeems them and the tyranny of the moment.
3. Then throws them up out of the waste of their situation.

Jonah was literally thrown up on the shore.  As Jonah began the long walk into Ninevah, what do you think was going through his mind?  Do you think he was saying, "the depths of the sea... Oh to do that again." No, in all likelihood Jonah was thinking: "I am an idiot and I really stink. Praise the LORD that He doesn't act as I do.  On to Ninevah, I have a song I want them to hear. "

Do you have a Ninevah that need to hear your song or are you on your way back to Taco Bell?