God is God All the Time
God is God All the Time
I bet you’ve heard the story of Jonah—how he ran from God, got swallowed by a whale (or fish, depending on your translation of the story), spent three nights in it’s belly on the Red Eye to Nineveh, and then preached repentance to those crazy pagans.
But have you ever seen why Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh? It was because he hated them, and he wanted to see them burn. That’s right—this man of God, a prophet who delivered God’s words to His people, didn’t want to obey because, who knows, God may have mercy on them.
I don’t know about you, but when I’m the one who needs grace and mercy, I definitely want God to have mercy on me when I deserve anything but. Yet when someone sins against me, I really want God to get them! Right? Doesn’t that seem just—that when we Christians get abused, our all-powerful God is supposed to get into the whole “smiting” groove and blast them with a lightning bolt or two?
That’s what Jonah wanted, that’s what we can want—but that’s NOT what God wants. God loves leaving the door open for “who knows” prayers: opportunities for Him to do what we least expect, like forgiving the horrible city of Nineveh.
Do you have it all figured out? Do you know what God’s going to do? If so, stop reading this, because it isn’t for you. As a matter of fact, nothing can help you because, remember, you already have it figured out. But if you can admit that you haven’t got God all figured out, you need to be open to “who knows” kinds of prayers.
Be open to God doing whatever He wants to do in a situation, even if it isn’t what you want. Never be afraid to persistently pray, “Not my will, but Your will be done.”
You’re about to read the account of Jonah having a “who knows” moment. God’s about to show Himself to be the same God during the Old Testament as He is today—merciful. He’s never changed, and He never will. He is always good, always forgiving, and always willing to prove the Jonahs of the world wrong. Persistently seek Him today as you fast and pray.
“And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nin´eveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nin´eveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nin´eveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nin´eveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nin´eveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nin´eveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nin´eveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”
Jonah 3:1-10 KJVAAE
https://bible.com/bible/546/jon.3.1-10.KJVAAE
I bet you’ve heard the story of Jonah—how he ran from God, got swallowed by a whale (or fish, depending on your translation of the story), spent three nights in it’s belly on the Red Eye to Nineveh, and then preached repentance to those crazy pagans.
But have you ever seen why Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh? It was because he hated them, and he wanted to see them burn. That’s right—this man of God, a prophet who delivered God’s words to His people, didn’t want to obey because, who knows, God may have mercy on them.
I don’t know about you, but when I’m the one who needs grace and mercy, I definitely want God to have mercy on me when I deserve anything but. Yet when someone sins against me, I really want God to get them! Right? Doesn’t that seem just—that when we Christians get abused, our all-powerful God is supposed to get into the whole “smiting” groove and blast them with a lightning bolt or two?
That’s what Jonah wanted, that’s what we can want—but that’s NOT what God wants. God loves leaving the door open for “who knows” prayers: opportunities for Him to do what we least expect, like forgiving the horrible city of Nineveh.
Do you have it all figured out? Do you know what God’s going to do? If so, stop reading this, because it isn’t for you. As a matter of fact, nothing can help you because, remember, you already have it figured out. But if you can admit that you haven’t got God all figured out, you need to be open to “who knows” kinds of prayers.
Be open to God doing whatever He wants to do in a situation, even if it isn’t what you want. Never be afraid to persistently pray, “Not my will, but Your will be done.”
You’re about to read the account of Jonah having a “who knows” moment. God’s about to show Himself to be the same God during the Old Testament as He is today—merciful. He’s never changed, and He never will. He is always good, always forgiving, and always willing to prove the Jonahs of the world wrong. Persistently seek Him today as you fast and pray.
“And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nin´eveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nin´eveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nin´eveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nin´eveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nin´eveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nin´eveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nin´eveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”
Jonah 3:1-10 KJVAAE
https://bible.com/bible/546/jon.3.1-10.KJVAAE