WEEKEND 05 - 06 AUG
OUR GREAT GOD – AGAIN
READ Jonah 1:17 Ephesians 3:14-21
Life often serves up situations that can be described in just one word: impossible. Humanly speaking, there’s no way that anything can change, and the end is a foregone conclusion. But as we saw at the beginning of our journey with Jonah, with God, all things are possible. Some conservative scholars have searched for a way to explain how a human being can remain alive inside a fish for three days. They’ve looked for a species with a mouth large enough to swallow a man, and even speculated that God might have made some design amendments to that particular fish to accommodate Jonah. But none of this is necessary. The writer of the story is not concerned to tell us how the event happened, only that it did happen. And the wording of the episode tells us that God ‘ordained’ or ‘appointed’ the fish. That word is used four times in the Book of Jonah: God is the Lord who appoints the creatures of the sea, gives commands to plants (4:6), worms (4:7), and the wind (4:8). I said this earlier, but it bears repeating: sometimes it’s really hard to hold on to the truth of the greatness and power of God, especially when we find ourselves stuck in a place where nothing is happening to change things, and our prayers seem unheard or, worse still, ignored. As I write, I find myself in that place right now. If you’re staring at the impossible, may you be strengthened with grace to trust, and faith to continue to look for God’s intervention. To ponder: What might be dubbed ‘impossible’ in your life right now?
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