The Mouth of the Whale

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 1-4 NIV)

We hear about strangers every day. We see them in the news, under overpasses, passing through streets littered with bars and prostitutes. We see the obvious sin ravaging our cities. Some of us join community service projects. We take large steps to evangelize to those in need. And these are indeed services that our communities need us to take part in.

But what about people who are not strangers? What about our closest friends and relatives? We all have friends and family that are not saved or are living luke warm. Are we ministering to them or are we afraid to offend them? Are we afraid to get out of our comfort zone with them? Do we believe they deserve their punishment for what ever they do? Do we hold resentment for some of the people we say we love?
We should all think unashamedly and inwardly about ourselves and why our pursuit to save those closest to us is not as fervent as our pursuit to save strangers.

It's funny how sometimes the people you say "I love you" to the most, can be the ones we resent. There are so many different reasons we may harbor resentment -- jealousy, anger, unforgiveness, and distrust. These feelings can often keep us from truly wanting to see the people we say we love be blessed. This may be a touchy subject because no one wants to admit that they aren't truly wishing the best for someone else. We don't want to admit that inside we are bitter and holding back true agape love for them. We may be holding back so much that we cringe at seeing them blessed before we are. Are there people you would rather see fall than be saved?

God told Jonah to go to the people of Nineveh who had fallen away from Him and warn them that God would destroy them. Jonah refused because he knew that once he warned the people of Nineveh they would turn from their evil ways and God would bless them. Jonah did not want God to have mercy on them. He resented them because of their sin.

Are we choosing the route of Jonah? Are we choosing mercy for those things that us comfortable more than those people who we say we love? It was often funny to me in college to see how quickly I could forgive a boy who cheated, but forever hold anger in my heart for a best friend who betrayed my trust but apologized sincerely. It's even baffling how we forgive our best friends for ditching us for someone else, but never forgive our parents when they don't show up for important events.How do we choose our standards of who gets our mercy?  And are we inevitably giving God standards for who He should show mercy to? Maybe sharing the gospel to strangers who we will never have to see again is easier than sharing it with the people we say we love.

God wants to show mercy to everyone. It's not our choice. It's his. Deal with the deap rooted feelings within you that may be keeping you from sharing the best of God with everyone God calls you to.

Thoughts on Zimmerman Trial

"So justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
    for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
¹⁰ Like the blind we grope along the wall,
    feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
    among the living, we are like the dead.
¹¹ We all growl like bears;
    we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
    for deliverance, but it is far away." Isaiah 59:10-11 (NIV)

I haven't voiced my opinion socially about the Zimmerman trial. I look at the system and have to remind myself that Zimmerman was tried according to the laws of the state and the constitution and was given due process. He was given all the rights that we, as Americans, fight for when we go to war against other countries. He was given a chance to state his peace. He was given a chance for freedom.

Then I think of Trayvon. I think of the thought that he wasn't given those rights. Maybe his rights were taken the moment he was shot. Maybe they were taken the moment he was moved into a lower-middle-class inner-city school system. Maybe his rights were taken the moment he was born a male. Maybe his rights were taken the moment he was conceived black.

I try my best not to think of things as racial. God loves Zimmerman, just as much as He loves Trayvon. God can redeem Zimmerman the same way He redeemed me from my BC (Before Christ) era. He can redeem Zimmerman in the same way He wants to redeem us all. I don't doubt the redemptive power of God, nor God's ability to put Trayvon and Zimmerman in the same location, cause an altercation, cause one to die, and cause a nation to be awoken to the injustices of its system. I do not doubt God's power to make "ALL THINGS work out for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) And I don't doubt that God has a plan that is bigger than Trayvon, bigger than Zimmerman, and bigger than our own emotional out-cries in this situation.

The verse above says "We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows." It is no denying that as our nation turns further and further away from God and His love, we walk further into darkness. None of us has the answers. We make rash decisions about laws. We want laws that will help us when we need it, but want to remove laws when they aren't helping us. Who "us" is is strictly personal for any one human being. But one thing is for sure, the only law I know to be infallible and inerrant is "the Word of God."

So as we go forth in this darkness that we have created for ourselves, maybe instead of making rash judgments, judging the law and situations based on emotion rather than fact and God's truth, we should just stop and find out where God wants us to be. I am all about solutions. I am all about change. But I am not for change that is spewed by emotion and not truly debated for the pros and cons that lie in all the decisions and laws that this country makes. We cannot be one sided. Don't march without a plan. If you are marching (I think it's great), but if someone asks you "How can we fix the system?” you need to have an enlightened answer. Don't march without a plan. Don't march in the darkness. You're still in the dark if all you know is what the media has fed you and you haven't truly looked into the laws and pros and cons for yourself.  You're even more in the dark if you haven't prayed and asked God to enlighten you and our country on the true reason that this entire situation has occurred and where HE wants YOU to stand in the situation. God may call some to march, some to write, some to plan, some to act, and some to sit still until He tells you to do something. If God called you to plan and you are marching, then you are in the dark. If God called you to act and you are just writing about it, you are in the dark. And if God called you to sit still until He tells you to do something, but you're still moving, then you will surely stumble.

"We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away." Deliverance is far away when we don't act how God has called us to act and with their gifts and influences that He has given each of us. Get into the light. If we want to make a change we have to do it the only infallible way possible --- God's way.