Vince Deagler

as you may know, we are studying the book of jonah on sunday mornings.  quite an interesting study.  i see an awful lot of grace traced throughout the story…but often i see that grace in a context i,we, wouldn’t immediately associate with grace.  here is what i’m getting at.  isn’t it true that most of the time we associate god’s grace with positive experiences.  when we are prospering, when things are going well, it is easy to attribute this to grace.  when things are negative, when we experience difficulty, we rarely see that as grace.  do you agree with that thought?  that we don’t see negative experience as grace.  that sure seems to be true, at least as far as i am able to observe.  but i think we will miss an awful lot of grace if we continue to see life through that lens.

look at jonah 2.  he clearly knew god was responsible for his calamity.  jonah 2 is written from the perspective of when jonah was inside the belly of the great sea creature god had prepared to swallow him.  but despite the fact jonah clearly understood god had done all this, he did not blame god, he was not angry with god, in fact he saw all this as a part of gods grace.  he cries out salvation is from the lord…never mind it was because of god he needed that salvation.  he cries out that all those who cling to worthless idols will forfeit the grace god wants to pour out on them.  that tells me jonah was thinking a lot more deeply about his reality than most of us do.  i think he recognized his worthless idol was his rage, his anger, his hatred of the assyrians (ninevites).  it was this hatred that controled him instead of god, and his call.  in fact as we continue our study, we will see this idol is not easily defeated.  a good lesson to learn for our own battles.  idols do not take over easily, but once they do, they are not easily rejected. 

i think except for a very committed christ follower, the average person lives their life totally on auto-pilot…self rule.  we just kind of live, do what we think is best, hope for good outcomes, god isn’t a big part, or in some cases any part of the process.  when things go well, life is good, and life goes on.  but when things turn sour, it is very easy to blame god, get angry, lash out.  but how is any of that gods fault?  i mean really, he wasn’t driving the car, he wasn’t even being asked for directions, so how is it we blame him when we end up somewhere else???  i see something different in jonah, something special.  although he knew god had put him in the fish, he knew why.  he didn’t blame god, he knew it was his fault.  in fact he goes so far as to say this was a work of gods grace.

grace is often defined as unmerited, undeserved favor.  jonah saw that, believed it.  he knew he had rebelled.  this is how he ended up in the fish.  god’s pursuit was all about reconciling him, restoring him, giving him a second chance…or grace.  think about it…where would jonah have been if god didn’t care…so that when jonah rebelled and headed for tarsus, god just let him go???  we would never have heard from him again.  but god does care, he did pursue, and he did everything he needed to do (just like a good parent) to get jonah’s attention, and get him back on the right track.  the track god knew was best for him.  and god does know whats best.  and this has been the point of contention from the garden of eden on.  who will be in control, and how will it all work out.

as i see it, jonah reminds us that we exist for god, not he for us.  it reminds us god knows best.  it should teach us that some of the difficulties we have faced in our lives were actually some of the most gracious moments of our lives.  i know that is true of me.  the most painful moments were also the most important, they explain who i am, what i am today.  do i want to go back and re-live them…no.  but i value them as some of the most formative moments in my life.  and that really is grace.  so if you find yourself in the belly of a whale these days…or something similar.  don’t think god hates you, doesn’t care, is out to get you, etc.  because the reality is god loves you so much he is willing to pursue you.  he has a plan for your life, wants you to experience life to its full.  and all you need to do is invite him in, let him have control.  sometimes this is why we find ourselves in such hopeless situations…they remind us we need him, and are a catalyst to turn over control to him.  i hope this helps you as much as it has helped me.  i also know how hard a concept this is to get, it can even anger us.  so please, if you are struggling with any of this, drop me a line and we can work together on figuring it out.  i have been there and done that.  peace.  vince