Personal Preparations

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah….And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah….But God prepared a worm….and it smote the gourd….God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah. Jonah 1:17; 4:6-8

I can imagine that Jonah had no trouble realizing life was not always under his control. Ever feel like him? God was constantly preparing the events, circumstances, and situations of his life in order to get his attention and redirect his steps. But Jonah kept missing the point. While there seemed to be a revival of sorts for Jonah in the belly of the fish, the end of the story finds him disgruntled, angry, and distant.

It is easy to come to the place where the happenings of our life can leave us feeling more like victims than victors. While Jonah was simply facing the consequences for wrong choices in his life, other Bible characters faced difficulties in spite of right choices. Joseph, from the Old Testament, always comes to mind when I think of someone who suffered at the hands of others. Hated, betrayed, and sold by his own brothers, he spent years in enslavement and prison. Were they wasted? Not at all. They were a time of preparation for God’s promotion in his life as he would one day be second only to Pharaoh in the land of Egypt. Much of his life was painful and did not make sense until the end was revealed. He could finally say with confidence to his brothers, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good!”

I learned a couple of years ago that Scripture is meant to be more than nice stories about people who lived long ago. God wants us to see that He is just as involved, just as loving, and just as present in our lives as He was in Bible times. At any given moment, He is preparing us for what is ahead. He has His hands on us, on our situations, and on our journey. If we keep this in mind it will help counter the wrong thinking of being a victim to others, being stuck in life, and living with no purpose. May we hear Him whisper the same words to us that He said to Jeremiah, “I know the plans that I have for you…plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

Father, I may only be in the middle of the story right now. By faith I look forward to what You had planned for me all along. Amen.

My Life Is In Your Hands - Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir (This was filmed in Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as "Angola").
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIc_cEH_EPU&feature=related

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.