By Pastor John Pruitt
We have been studying about things that Jonah learned while inside the belly of that great ocean beast. The word of God is our first and best source of learning how we should live as children of God. The second best way to learn is by experience. Many times, experience comes as a result of our own mistakes. As we can see from this account of Jonah, the biggest mistake a person can make is to ignore, refuse or disobey God’s will and commandments. Let us look at the last four lessons Jonah learned while in the belly of the whale.
God’s Holiness Will Not Bow To Our Un-Holiness: Jonah learned that sin separates the saint from God. In the fishes belly Jonah felt that he was about as far away from God as he could get, much farther that Joppa and much farther than Tarshish. Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid [his] face from you, that he will not hear. If God seems to be afar off from you, it is not because you have been behaving. Any time you get out of the will of God, you are going to feel alone and forsaken. It is the wicked flesh which thinks that God has departed from them. Return to Him and He will receive you and give you comfort once again.
God’s Infinite Wisdom Is Greater Than Our Carnal Wisdom: Jonah learned that we should not question the infinite wisdom of God. He thought he knew more about the situation with the Assyrians than God did. Calling on his worst enemy to repent just didn’t make any sense. You must remember that our ways are not His ways and our thoughts are not His thoughts. A good way to look dumb is to second guess God’s wise plan.
A Good Time To Talk To The Lord Is When You Get In Trouble: Jonah 2:1-2, “Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice” (you should read the rest of that chapter). Jonah learned that what David said about prayer was true. Ps 66:18-20, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear [me]: [But] verily God hath heard [me]; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed [be] God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.”
Salvation Is Of The Lord: Jonah put himself in trouble, but God had to get him out. Psalms 86:7, “In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.” Please read Psalms 77:1-14. If you find yourself out of the way, and away from God, (if you are out of the way you are out of the will of God) please understand and believe that there is always a way back. But understand also, that there is only one way back and that is the way of Jonah; you must call upon the Lord and confess your sins and repent. 1 John 1:8-10, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
E-mail, johnpruitt@frontiernet.net