Daily Encouragement: "Freak"

more on Jonah....

"Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit up Jonah on the beach, and it did." (Jonah 2:10)

Jonah was miraculously saved from being digested by the fish and was given a second chance to obey. God then commanded Jonah again to go to Nineveh and deliver the message of judgment, and that's just what Jonah did.

"On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds" 'Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!'" (Jonah 3:4)

Now imagine the city of Dallas on a weekend with an event like the state fair going on. How would you react if someone from Oklahoma City (or any place outside of Texas--can't help it, I'm a Texan) strolled into the crowds of the state fair yelling, "Forty days from now Dallas will be destroyed!"? Yeah, you'd think that he was insane or a "freak," but something unexpected happened in Nineveh.

"The people of Nineveh believed God's message, and from the greatest to the least, they decided to go without food and wear sackcloth to show their sorrow. When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in sackcloth and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: 'No one, not even the animals, may eat or drink anything at all. Everyone is required to wear sackcloth and pray earnestly to God. Everyone must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will have pity on us and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.'" (Jonah 3:5-9)

Our God, Jonah's God, is so amazing! What would seem like an insane thing to do turned out to be the exact thing this city needed to turn their hearts away from evil and pray to God. Even better, read what happens....

"When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn't carry out the destruction he had threatened." (Jonah 3:10)

Not only did God give Jonah a second chance, He gave an entire city a second chance!

So how would you react if God called you to do something that would make you look insane or look like a "freak?" Would you turn and run the other way, or would you step out in faith and see what God would do through your obedience? It could mean salvation for someone else....who can tell?

by Wendie Beddingfield