Fish head

Recently I had grown very weary of something and was considering just retiring from the battle, (quitting). This was not an ordinary project for me however, because before I even agreed with myself that I would take it on, I had actually prayed about whether or not I should do it in the first place, (literally for months). It represented a tremendous amount of work and I was telling myself that I am tired, weary, and old and I don’t need projects of this magnitude anymore and that I should be living the good life and on and on. God has never directly spoken to me, but I am convinced in no small way that He directed me to see this through. Don’t ask me technical questions as to “how” I know, all I can tell you is I “know” that He considers it to be important and he wants me to do this and see this through to the bitter end. I know it!

So I decided to take it on. To those of you who know me this will probably come as a shock and complete surprise, but I can be somewhat hard-headed and rebellious at times. Now that I am into the project full bore, as with most projects satan has been opposing me at more than one turn, (in other words, it ain’t been easy). Recently I was tired of fighting the good fight and I was thinking more about what “I” wanted to do, such as spend that time fishing, rather than fighting dragons doing what “God” wanted me to do, and I was seriously considering doing just that in defiance to God and man alike.

In the midst of this our pastor preached a sermon about Jonah. As you might recall Jonah was instructed to preach at Nineveh which is located in modern day Syria, but Jonah decided to disobey God, (probably because they were cruel and wicked people that had done tremendous harm in the past to his people, the Jews, and essentially he had no interest in trying to save them from God’s wrath). Instead he decided to run away and got on board a ship heading in the other direction. A great storm came up and Jonah ended up being tossed overboard by the God fearing crew of the ship and a “great fish” swallowed him and he remained in the fish for three days. Finally the fish spit him up.

Upon landing on the beach, Jonah, (for some strange reason), had miraculously experienced a big change of heart, and promptly humped it right on down to Nineveh whereby he preached his heart out and the entire city repented and turned back to God.

I have seen whales up close on several occasions. It looks romantic to see them blowing water through their blowholes as they gracefully come up for air as they merrily swim along squeaking love songs to each other. If you ever get close to one of them though, the romance will quickly disappear as the air that comes out of their blowhole is a foul stinking aroma that smells like rotten fish and will nearly knock you down. I can only imagine what Jonah smelled like when that whale vomited him up. I kind of wonder what he looked like too. I have cleaned fish that had devoured other fish and the digestive juices did a number on them. Jonah had to be half digested and most certainly looked and smelled pretty rough and he likely scared the heck out of those Ninevites, (just from his appearance and odor, if not entirely the preaching).

I routinely go to the Bahamas this time of the year to fish. I can go over there in my speedy fishing boat and fish for the day and be home in time for dinner. It is a long trip and I must cross the Gulf Stream to get there, (and to get back), which can be an adventure, (dangerous). Sometimes the weather is perfect when I leave, but storms come up during the day and it is not real pleasant fighting our way through them and the raging seas as we try to make it home. I began thinking of all of this and albeit I might be considered to be hard-headed at times, it was not lost on me that I did not desire to go overboard in a storm and be swallowed by a whale and vomited up in a half digested state in three days, because I would not obey God. I may be rebellious and a hard head, but I do fear God. Needless to say I am back on the project. My attitude now: “Rest if you must, but don’t you quit”!

I wonder about you. Is God telling you to do something; perhaps something simple like attending or joining a church, or possibly teaching a Sunday school class? He will likely not appear to you in a burning bush or boom it out of heaven, or even write it on the sky, but it will be on your mind and you will “know’ what you should be doing. You will know that you need to attend church, read the Bible, witness to your friends, tithe, make a contribution to the church over and above your tithe, give either or both your time/talent and money to God. You will boldly tell someone Merry CHRISTmas instead of greeting them with some lame, politically correct Happy Holidays. We will stand up for God and be counted and fulfill His purpose for which we were created.

Maybe you do not fish and do not fear being eaten by a whale, but trust me God is not mocked and you should take seriously His desires for your purpose in life. I do not believe that all bad times are directly related to disobedience to God; however this Jonah incident is one example of God’s persuasive powers to those rebellious hard heads that choose to defy Him. Some hard times are the direct result of our disobedience to God; make no mistake about it! The Bible states that King Solomon was the wisest man that the world will ever know. He states in the book of Proverbs that the “Beginning of wisdom is to fear God”. I think this incident that I have related is in part what is meant by that passage as it relates to fear and obedience. God is merciful, loving and full of grace, but He is also fearsome, holy, and I for one do not want to be the object of His wrath…

Psalms 103:11
For as the heavens are high
above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward
those who fear Him;
As far as east is from the
west,
So far has He removed our
transgressions from us.