Dear Connection Friend,

You've heard the old saying, "Misery loves company."  But I'm not so sure that old adage is true.  If you look at the story of Jonah, 
you'll see that in his misery he didn't want to be around anyone and no one wanted to be around him.  He had to face the miserable consequences of his disobedience to God alone in the belly of a whale!

The solitary consequences so obviously woven into the fabric of 
Jonah's choices are almost laughable-almost.  "But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, he went down [that's the phrase I want you to notice; embed that in your memory] to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.  So he paid the fare and he went down into it" (Jonah 1:3 emphasis added).  Later, he went down into the gullet of the fish.  When you read about Jonah, he was going down, down, down.  This leads me to believe that any time you run away from God's plan, you go down.  From the world's perspective you may be going up: you're becoming "liberated" or upwardly mobile.  But if you're running from God, you're going down.

A key phrase speaks about the event that caused Jonah's misery. "He found a ship going to Tarshish so he paid the fare"  (Jonah 1:3). He paid the fare for his ticket but never made it to his destination.  You see, when you go your own way, you don't reach the desired destination and it's always costly.  However, when you go God's way, you'll always get to His destination and He'll pay the price.  That's an important principle to learn from Jonah: Go your own way, pay full price, and get lost along the way. OR: Go God's way, He pays the price, and He'll lead you "in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Psalm 23:3).

We learn from Jonah's life that the consequences of walking from 
God's will are not always immediately apparent. You may turn from God's will and think you're getting away with it.  Look at what Jonah did after his talk with God.  He went in the exact opposite direction  God had told him to go and took a sixty mile walk from Gath heifer down to Joppa.  Imagine him walking sixty miles on a dusty trail: no angel of God stops him; no heavenly voice halts him in his tracks. He must have thought he was getting away with his disobedience.  He found work on a boat, paid for a ticket, and went down into it. The boat  set sail with no problem. Maybe Jonah even thought, "Hey, I must be doing the right thing, God isn't stopping me." But very soon the storm set in and God got Jonah's attention!

"But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea" (Jonah 1:4a). While the consequences of sin may not be so readily apparent, sin has a way of catching up with us. Jonah's sin caught up with him in the form of  a storm and a whale.  But he was redeemed because God is the God of second chances.  The first three words of Jonah 1:4 speak volumes, "But the Lord."  Contrast that with verse 3 which begins, "But Jonah."  Notice how the focus shifts? "But the Lord."   Here's Jonah, a man who said, "I'm running away from God."   But God is too merciful to let this ornery character (or any ornery character-including you!) go.  The Lord pursued Jonah just as He pursues us.  The phrase, "But the Lord" can revolutionize any life that needs mercy and a second chance because God won't leave us stranded-He'll come to our rescue. 

It reminds me of the story of the politician who went to have his 
picture taken. He saw the proofs and became very angry.  He stormed back into the studio and said, "Hey, I don't like these pictures.   They don't do me justice."  The photographer said, "Sir, with all due respect.   With a face like yours, you don't need justice, you need mercy."

Jonah did not need God's justice; he needed God's mercy.  And God mercifully got his attention.  Then intervened to use him for His glory by offering him a second chance.  It's what God wants to give some of you today-mercy and a second chance.  Have you run from God?  Have you failed Him in some way?  But the Lord wants to let you start anew and use your life for His glory.  Do you feel like you're going down, down, down? Then remember the story of Jonah; he was down but not out!  Like Jonah, your second chance is only a prayer away.

In His strong love,
Skip Heitzig