Turn All Your Thoughts To God

Jonah 2:1-2 and 7  Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish.  He said, "I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the world of the dead, and LORD, you heard me!

 "When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the LORD. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.

 

Jonah couldn’t do much inside that fish except breathe and think.  He realized that running away was not what he was supposed to do…and that he had messed up bad. He turned his thoughts to God…and realized that any hope he had for mercy and survival rested in the Lord’s hands. It must have been a revival worth watching…for Jonah did a three sixty and totally changed his attitude.

 

There is something about being at our lowest that helps us realize that God could have helped us all along.  There is something about losing everything….or being faced with death….or losing a loved one….that causes our hearts to finally put things in the right priority.

 

It is these very situations that threaten our existence….our happiness… that cause us to humble ourselves lower than we ever have before. It is this act of calling out from our lowest point that causes God to pour back on us His love…His compassion…His mercy.

 

Jonah poured out his repentance…and pledged to follow God’s directions if given the chance. Jonah thanked God for the experience and for saving him…even before the fish was ordered to spit him out on the beach.

 

It is a reminder to me that God hears all my prayers…no matter where they come from…and he answers them all. It is a reminder that I need to keep my heart as humble as possible…cause God sees through any façade I try to put up to hide my feelings from the others around me. It is a reminder to repent of all sin…known and unknown….and pledge to try just that much harder to do what God asks of me.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that a humble…contrite…broken heart has the best ability to understand and follow through with your plan for me. Forgive me for forgetting that great truth from time to time…and allowing satan to trick me into sins that I sometimes don’t even recognize as sin.  Help me to keep my heart as humble as possible…so I can hear your directions and use your power and strength to do what you need me to do.  Amen