Thursday, January 14, 2016

He Went Down

  

  
Prayer 


Awesome Father, Mighty God, Lord of all Creation thank you for loving me before anyone else knew me.  Gracious father, I’m humbled by your redeeming love for me and more than that I want to be obedient to you even in the small things. I surrender my life so that you will be glorified.  My earnest desire is to faithfully serve you. Thank you for directing me, correcting me and protecting me. I pray that you would lead and guide me today and every day. Not my will, but yours be done in my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.  
 He Went Down by Veronica Garrett 

"The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port.  After paying the fare he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.” Jonah 1:1-4




Jonah knew that God was calling him to Nineveh but instead he went to Tarshish. Yes, he ran from the Lord and then he went down to Joppa. In fact these two cities were at opposite ends of the Mediterranean commercial sphere. Is there something that God has called you to do that you are running from?  Any time we run from God make no mistake just like Jonah, we go down.  It could appear as if we are moving up the corporate ladder but if we are going contrary to God’s direction we too are going down. We could be serving a ministry other than the one God really wants us to.
You see after Jonah had boarded the ship the Lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in jeopardy of breaking apart. Usually when God adjust our course with a storm it is as if something strange is happening. The wind can be likened to a series of unfortunate events blowing our way. And before we can recover from the winds of adversity a violent storm arises. It looks as though everything will be demolished in this storm. We must be willing to humble ourselves and acknowledge our rebellion against God. If God has orchestrated these events to help us get on course we must cry out in repentance. The sailors reluctantly threw Jonah overboard and then the sea grew calm.  The storm itself did not refrain until Jonah was thrown overboard.
During a crisis even nonbeliever’s pray and request prayer. The sailors on the ship were afraid and each cried out to his own god. You see there is nothing that brings us to crying out to God like crisis.  In fact, the sailors even offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. When people in your sphere of influence are experiencing a storm seize the opportunity to introduce them to the Lord. Our God is more than able to save them in the mist of their trial.
I don’t know about you but I don’t want to go down. Where can we run away from God? The earth is! The winds and the waves obey Him! We can never get too far from his purpose. He can reset our course at any time. The change, or delta correction can at times be as bumpy as riding in the belly of a great fish. Avoid going down by choosing to live in the will of God. 

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