Daily Encouragement: Awesome Power

Today I am drawn to the minor prophets in the Old Testament--lots of short, not-necessarily sweet prophecies of judgement and then some sweet words of restoration. The book I settled in on is the book of Jonah.

**When I think on this story, I can't get visions of the Veggie Tales movie "Jonah" out of my head. The songs were especially catchy, so I have "Jonah was a prophet, ooh, ooh..." and "the God of second chances" looping in my mind while writing this piece. I highly recommend Veggie Tales to all parents of kids 8 and under (teenagers like them, too.)**

Okay, back to Jonah. In case you've never read the story, God called Jonah to go to this city called Ninevah that was full of wicked people, and Jonah was to tell them that their city would be destroyed because of their wickedness. Jonah opted to go in the opposite direction, however, in order to run away from God. Well, you can't really run away from God, and neither could Jonah. While on a ship, the Lord caused a violent storm to threaten to sink the ship, and Jonah knew it was because of him. Jonah admitted it was his fault and asked to be thrown overboard, and although hesitant, the sailors "threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!" (Jonah 1:15)

Here's the kicker that I hadn't really caught until today..."The sailors were awestruck by the Lord's great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him." (Jonah 1:16)

The Lord's consequences for Jonah's disobedience was the storm. Jonah's heart was convicted and in order to save these sailors, he knew he must get off the boat. I don't really know what was going through his mind then, but there must have been a great heaviness in his heart, and he asked the sailors to throw him over--maybe because he just couldn't do it himself. When they did, God did exactly what Jonah had predicted and the sailors were "awestruck" and became servants of God Almighty. The power of God and his wonders and miracles draw many people to Himself. Even in the consequences of our sin, God can and does use these "heavy" times in our lives to draw others.

There is much more to come in this little book of Jonah that we'll catch tomorrow, but for today, sweet friend, I want to encourage you that even while suffering in the consequences of past (or even current) sin, God can use this, too, to draw you back to Him as well as outsiders who are looking on--seeing the mighty hand of God!

picture by Zhongde Liu