For the past month of September, we’ve been listening to Bert preach on the book of Jonah.
This book, as Bert said, is every literature student’s dream: it contains themes laid upon themes and layers over layers, forming a completely well-rounded book.
Jonah is also quite the character we can all somewhat relate to. Maybe it’s the way he goes down, down, down: farther and farther away from God, simply avoiding Him (we’ve all be there at some point). Or maybe it’s Jonah realising this is his fault and then repenting (yes, we’ve all had to repent at some point during our walk with God too). Or perhaps we see ourselves in when Jonah thinks he’s the center of the universe and complains that things aren’t going according to his own plans (join the club!).
So through the last four weeks, it was interesting to look at what God did in Jonah’s life. In all his crazy mishaps and despite how Jonah ran so far away from Him, God’s Sovereignty still prevailed. Not once did it seize up.
During the concluding sermon of this Jonah mini-series, Bert summed up how amazing God is–- His power completely encompassing, but also personal: He appointed Jonah to go to Ninevah; He appointed a boat; He controlled the weather and caused a storm happen, resulting in Jonah being thrown out to sea; God appointed a big fish; God appointed a plant to grow to give shade to Jonah, God even appointed the plant to whither…
In other words, God appoints things to happen in life, in nature and even in our lives.
That makes me, personally, feel like wow, He does all of that and still does things for me?
One question which was brought to our attention, and which still runs through my head, is “Are you playing your part in His plan?”
That’s a very big question, and one we always end up trying to find the answer to quite often– whether you’re wondering if your current life is the right path, or you’re at a crossroads, or you have an important decision before you. We must keep walking on.
And when we look at Jonah’s life, we remember that he also went through some serious misadventures which played a part in God’s larger plan. Sure, Jonah might have messed up, gotten lazy and couldn’t be bothered. He also became selfish and thought it was all about “me, me, me”. Despite all this, God made it possible for Jonah to realise who was ultimately in charge, and then have the chance to change.
I particularly like the concluding point to these sessions on Jonah, which is one that we can all take home: God’s plan is not for us to know what is going to happen or worry about making one giant leap of faith somewhere down the line, but rather to take each step as He reveals them.
Our job, again, is to keep walking on, one step at a time.
So now the question I want to ask is, are you walking according to God’s plan, in sync with Him?
If not, I think it might be time to have a season of change.