Day 14: God's Mercy in the Wilderness
THE STORY OF JONAH
Jonah 1-2
By Lexi Bruesewitz
By Lexi Bruesewitz
Does God truly know better than I do? Is God really good? Does He see and understand me? Our disobedience points to what we believe - about God, ourselves, and others. In Jonah’s story, he runs from God’s call to preach in Nineveh because of his own thoughts about the people there. He doesn’t want God to have compassion on them, so he refuses God and heads the opposite direction. He prefers his own plan to God’s. It feels important that Jonah acknowledges this. He actually tells the men on the boat that he is running away from the Lord. Months ago, I had felt that I too was running from God. I confessed to a friend that I was not praying about a situation because I wasn’t sure I would be obedient if I heard from Him. I wanted God to change my situation, and I had fear that He would rather change my heart instead. Like Jonah, I had decided to plug my ears and hope for my own plan to come to pass.
This disobedience, or lack of submission, can bring us into a wilderness of our own. This can come by God’s hand or simply the natural consequences of our sin. Either way, God uses our situation to draw us nearer to Himself. In Jonah’s case, God brought the storm and three days alone in the belly of a fish. While he sat in the fish, in his solitude and honesty with the Lord, Jonah’s heart began to change. No longer running away, he says, “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, and your holy temple.” He then declares that he will do what God asks. It was God’s mercy for Jonah to have time for his belief to change. My wilderness looked like a state of unnecessary anxiety and uncertainty and, when I finally began talking to God about it, my prayer was a cry for help, to help my unbelief.
When we acknowledge the state of our heart and confess the things we’re withholding from Him, even if we aren’t ready to surrender, He mercifully uses it. As I confessed my lack of trust and submission to God, I felt Him changing my heart. Even though it’s not what I wanted at first, He has given me contentment right where I am. The stress and anxiety have faded because I have opened my hand to God’s plan instead of fighting for my own.
In our conversations with God, He reminds us of who He truly is. He is loving. We can be honest because He can handle our disobedience. He is patient as we are learning to trust Him. We might find ourselves in the wilderness, but He will never leave us on our own. He is a God who is worthy of being followed.
Take time today to be brutally honest. What is your true view of God? Is there anything you’re withholding from Him?
PRAY:
Merciful Father, forgive me for withholding from you, for not always trusting you fully. Open my eyes to your goodness. Open my ears to your voice. Help me trust that you see and hear me too. Give me the courage and humility to choose your way above my own. Help me see that even when I run from you, you are there. Let me remember the reality and depth of your goodness, past, present, and future. May I find that the more I trust, the more I find you always faithful. Amen.
This disobedience, or lack of submission, can bring us into a wilderness of our own. This can come by God’s hand or simply the natural consequences of our sin. Either way, God uses our situation to draw us nearer to Himself. In Jonah’s case, God brought the storm and three days alone in the belly of a fish. While he sat in the fish, in his solitude and honesty with the Lord, Jonah’s heart began to change. No longer running away, he says, “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, and your holy temple.” He then declares that he will do what God asks. It was God’s mercy for Jonah to have time for his belief to change. My wilderness looked like a state of unnecessary anxiety and uncertainty and, when I finally began talking to God about it, my prayer was a cry for help, to help my unbelief.
When we acknowledge the state of our heart and confess the things we’re withholding from Him, even if we aren’t ready to surrender, He mercifully uses it. As I confessed my lack of trust and submission to God, I felt Him changing my heart. Even though it’s not what I wanted at first, He has given me contentment right where I am. The stress and anxiety have faded because I have opened my hand to God’s plan instead of fighting for my own.
In our conversations with God, He reminds us of who He truly is. He is loving. We can be honest because He can handle our disobedience. He is patient as we are learning to trust Him. We might find ourselves in the wilderness, but He will never leave us on our own. He is a God who is worthy of being followed.
Take time today to be brutally honest. What is your true view of God? Is there anything you’re withholding from Him?
PRAY:
Merciful Father, forgive me for withholding from you, for not always trusting you fully. Open my eyes to your goodness. Open my ears to your voice. Help me trust that you see and hear me too. Give me the courage and humility to choose your way above my own. Help me see that even when I run from you, you are there. Let me remember the reality and depth of your goodness, past, present, and future. May I find that the more I trust, the more I find you always faithful. Amen.
Posted in 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting
1 Comment
Lexi, thank you for so many good reminders, I’m in tears. Also leaning into prayer for courage and humility: To trust and choose God’s ways above my own. And thank you for being vulnerable and pointing out that sometimes it is our own disobedience or running from God that leads us right into the wilderness and even there God can use it for his glory!