He pursues us

My soul gave up all hope, but then I remembered the Lord. I prayed to you, and you heard my prayers in your holy Temple. “Some people worship useless idols, but those statues never help them. I will give sacrifices to you, and I will praise and thank you. I will make special promises to you, and I will do what I promise.” Salvation only comes from the Lord! (Jonah 2:7-9)

We might think there is no hope in our current situation, but God isn't afraid of the darkness, nor is he one to abandon his children. He gives us all the 'space' we require in order to come to the end of our 'selfishness' and 'rebellion', but he doesn't leave us there forever. When we call upon him, he hears - because he has never left us!

Jonah realized the God he served wasn't just some useless idol, but the One True God. His covenant with those whom he loves is forever. Most importantly, he realizes salvation comes no other way. Salvation is more than the deliverance from the penalty of sin that we find in relationship with Jesus. It also carries the meaning of the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, or destruction.

Jonah was counting on God to help him avoid harm - although things looked very bleak at the moment for him. Those who have a relationship with God may find themselves in places they don't want to be because of some compromise or rebellion in their lives, but it doesn't mean the relationship is abandoned. We can seek God's help - but as we explored earlier, it doesn't always mean we avoid the consequences of our rebellion. It does mean he is capable and willing to help us get on the right path again!

God doesn't look for our promises - he looks for us to act on them. Jonah made a promise and committed to do as he promised. When we engage with God in the things he asks us to do, we can be assured he will help us fulfill those promises we have made. He enables us to live out our right choices - but he pursues us with love and grace when we don't always follow the right path. Just saying!

The lowest of lows

“You threw me into the sea. Your powerful waves splashed over me. I went down, down into the deep sea.
The water was all around me. Then I thought, ‘Now I must go where you cannot see me,’ but I continued looking to your holy Temple for help." (Jonah 2:3-4)

We all are subject to those 'weak moments' when darkness is about to consume us, having made unwise choices. In the darkest places, it never ceases to amaze me that we 'call out'. We may not even know what we are calling out for, or who it is we are calling out to, but we 'call out'. Why? We need help! We feel shame over our actions. We aren't doing 'well' emotionally, spiritually, or physically and we need help. Does it come as any surprise that in the darkest of places Jonah is still looking to God for help? It shouldn't because we serve a God of redemption!

I was at the bottom of the sea, the place where the mountains begin. I thought I was locked in this prison forever, but the Lord my God took me out of my grave. God, you gave me life again! (vs. 6)

At our lowest place, God is there. At our highest peak, God is there. At our everyday, run-of-the-mill kind of moments, God is there. If you're doubting that right now, think again. God has never abandoned us, and he never will. Sin drives a wedge between us, but grace works to remove the wedge. When we feel we are 'locked into our sinful patterns' in life, we need to only cry out. God is at the ready to give us life again. We make the choice to follow sin's pull - we also make the choice to embrace his grace when our sin has led us to feel ashamed and overwhelmed.

We all come to our 'bottom places', but he is right there beside us, reaching for us. We might not always 'feel' God with us, nor will we always be able to 'see' he is working in us, but we can trust that he never leaves us to experience that darkness alone. Jesus went to the grave for us - the darkest place did not consume him, so why would we think God incapable of helping us find our way out of ours? Just askin!

A Love Like This

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. (Romans8:26-28)

Lauren Daigle sings a song I just love - not because of the beauty of her voice - even though she has a great voice. I love it because of the love of her heart - the love she has for her Lord! The song? It is "Love Like This". Indulge me this morning as I share those words with you - allow them to minister to your heart as much as they minister to mine:

When I am a wasteland You are the water. When I am the winter You are the fire that burns. When I am a long night You are the sunrise. When I am the desert You are the river that turns to find me. 
What have I done to deserve love like this?
What have I done to deserve love like this?
Your voice like a whisper breaking the silence. You say there's a treasure and You look till You find it. 
You search to find me. 
What have I done to deserve love like this?
What have I done to deserve love like this?
I cannot earn what You so freely give.....
What have I done to deserve love like this?

I hope you are just reveling in his love right now as you have read those words and allowed them to minister to your heart as much as they do mine. At some point in our lives, we all feel like our lives are a bit of a wasteland, but at about the time we are the driest and the thirstiest, isn't that just the time he comes to bring the deep refreshing we so desperately desire? In times when all seems to be surrounding us and closing us in like the hard frozen surface of the lake, he is there with the fire of his Spirit to ensure we aren't 'locked into' that place for long. How many long nights have you experienced lately, my friends? Don't lose hope - for it is just about the dawning of his deliverance and his power to rescue from the midst of all that darkness and worry. 

It doesn't matter we don't know how to pray in those wasteland, cold, or dark places - God knows the voice of his Spirit within you. Cry out as only he can give release to those words that need to be spoken. It may come in the form of groans, tears, or even words that just tell him you don't understand. That isn't a problem - he understands them all even better than we do ourselves! What have we done to deserve a love like his? Nothing - absolutely nothing! We might be very 'religious' people, but when the wasteland, dry, cold, or dark places envelop us, how does that 'religion' hold up in the moment of our worst? If you find yourself saying it doesn't really, then perhaps it is time to cry out to God to give you a new perspective on his intense and ever-present love. 

We are all in need of his love - none of us has 'just enough' - we crave for more, don't we? Why? Our hearts are made to be filled not once, but repeatedly - not to the top, but to the overflowing! I wonder if the wasteland experiences are to help us realize the extreme abundance of his love... I ponder upon the idea that the colder I become, the warmer his fire begins to burn, until the iciness of my heart is melted away... I consider the loneliness of the long night, dark and with shadows that seem to close in on me, recounting each time those times were the quietest I have been before him... Perhaps all of these are what makes us 'crave' even more of his grace and love. Maybe we just need to cry out - letting his Spirit begin to speak the words we want so desperately to express to him, but don't really understand. Just thinking....