Series: Give Thanks in All Things
2 Corinthians 9:11 ESV
Genesis 3:8 ESV
Jonah 1:1-3 ESV
Jonah 1:9-10 ESV
Jonah 1:17 and Jonah 2:10 ESV
Romans 8:26-28 ESV
There are times when God warns me and shows me things I do not want to see. When that happens I want to “play” ostrich.
Yesterday was an ostrich day.
God revealed things I did not want to see and so I pretended it wasn’t real. I told myself the things I saw would not happen.
I know from my past history that my “hiding” doesn’t change the reality of my dream/vision.
2 Corinthians 9:11 tells us, “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”
Today I do not feel generous.
I do not want my light to shine.
My dream/vision frightened me and I just want to hide. When I hide I’m not hiding from God. I’m hiding from what God shows me.
I am reminded that I am not alone. From the beginning man hid. We know from Genesis 3:8, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”
Jonah hid from God.we are told in Jonah 1:1-3, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil[a] has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.”
And a great wind came up that endangered the ship. So the captain confronted Jonah. We read in Jonah 1:9-10, “And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.”
The crew members knew Jonah was running from God because he admitted it to them. As a result of Jonah’s disobedience the prophet ended up being thrown into the sea where a great fish swallowed him up. “And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17).
Jonah ran the other way. But when he turned back to God the fish spit him out (Jonah 2:10).
Both the man and his wife in Genesis 3 and Jonah in Jonah 1:1-3 hid from the Lord. They did not want to ‘face’ what God had for them. Yet eventually they turned to God to accomplish what God had for them.
And so…today I am reminded that playing ostrich is not the answer. I am reminded that regardless of the circumstances, “God will enrich” which will produce thanksgiving in our hearts (2 Corinthians 9:11).
We do not know the ways of God even though we think we know more than we really know.
Only God knows.
I am reminded of the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 8:26-28, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
I do not know how to pray, but God knows because when we turn the Spirit intercedes for us.
In addition to the promise we receive from 2 Corinthians 9:11 that we will be enriched in every way, we also have the promise Paul wrote about in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good to those who are called.
And so, while I am sad and confused today, I turn and give my grief and my confusion to God.
I rely on God’s abundant grace and on the promise that God has a plan.
It was not my plan…but I am not in charge.
God is in charge.
Spiritual Practice: Turn
Give your apprehensions and your fears to God and let God make all things good.
In God, Deborah