Ah fish vomit the scent of Love!
Does Gods Love for us sometimes hurt?
Does God leave us when we are struggling or is it in the struggle that we can find God?
Please read Jonah 2:1-10
Does God at times allow things to happen to get our attention?
Perhaps those bumps in the road are better than the detour that we will take if we dont learn to slow down and observe from the bump.
Vs. 2 “In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From the deep in the realm of the dead I called for help and you listened to my cry.”
For me I have found that if I am seeking God or in other words seeking Love in this present moment I have much less “distress.” The times in my life when I need to de-stress from the distress are when I am the farthest from Love.
Jonah in this passage was running from Love. He was running from giving Love to the people in Nineveh. But even in his running people saw God. When the sailors asked Jonah what they should do to calm the seas Jonah basically said throw me overboard as I am the cause of all this trouble. The men on that ship saw Love in action and a dynamic witness to the power of God.
Vs. 3- 7 go through the depths that we go through and some of the pain that we endure while we are in the belly of the beast. Depression is a great example of that dark belly when you are surrounded and see no light and think God has abandoned you. I can very much identify with vs. 5 “engulfing”, “deep”, “wrapped around my head” all these images spell a sense of desperation that at times perhaps we need to feel to get us to grasp the depths of His Love and the second lesson here:
Vs. 8 “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit God’s Love for them.”
Wow and ouch so some people forfeit Gods Love for them. Yes apparently some do and I might point out again that an idol is anything that takes your mind off of Love. This could be anything to our own wisdom and understanding to money or power or sex- the list is endless.
The healing comes from the realization that God is God and He wants to be with you and share His Love with you and through you.
Vs. 9- “But I, with shouts of grateful praise will sacrifice to you.”- He was grateful.
Vs. 9- “What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord’“- He will keep his promise to share Love and tell others of the path out of the belly of the beast.
As a result of Jonah’s run the men on the ship got to see Love and learn of salvation. Even as we run God has set that up so that others will get the opportunity to see Love. As a result of Jonah’s run Jonah was changed and He is constantly changing us to the point we Love more and have more peace. As a result of Jonah’s run a great city of 125,000 people had the chance to find redemption.
My point is treasure the fish vomit, remember the acidity of the fish gastric juices and when you do give thanks because God cared so much for you that He has not only sent His only Son but He is preparing you in the fish stomach and there are great opportunities to Love as you wipe the fish juice from your eyes you will see them.
Love in this moment – That is why God has you here!
I used to listen to a Christian punk band back in the day, called The Lead. The last album I got of theirs was called “Burn This Record!”. The message of that title is exactly what you ended with. They wrote in the liner, if this record or anything else comes between God and you, burn it! Cut it off!
I have a saying, “Apart from God we are nothing.”
Simple and to the point.
Amen Brother!
Thank you for sharing! This is the main reason why going back to the law is anti-Christ – it puts our ego between God and us!
If our works have any impact on our relationship with God then the cross means nothing and Jesus was a suicide – I totally believe
that Love draws people Home to see the Father – His Grace IS sufficient for me – nothing else matters!
Thank you again for sharing – I will return your email shortly – sorry bout that!