Faith

by Debbie Wallis

one night but He knew it would take years for them to allow Egypt ways to leave

God is in no way responsible when we move out of His will He’s not the author of sin or wrong doing Even our worst sins and mistakes fall under His supreme plan for our lives He can take our wickedness and use it to accomplish His purpose. One of my very favorite verses is Romans 8:28 and I’ve used it for comfort and reassurance over and again. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose ”

“When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistines country, although it was shorter For God said, If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt," Exodus 13:17

God uses delays to prepare us The Israelites were a slave people and God knew if they went to war they wouldn't be able to handle it Every dream has difficulties God uses delays to get us ready for those difficult times that we’re going to face during the course of our journey The delays are designed to strengthen our faith and make us stronger. Deut. 8:2, "God led you through the wilderness for forty years... testing you to find out how you would respond and if you would obey Him " God uses delays to reveil how we will respond under pressure and to test our loyalty and obedience to Him He uses delays to train us because sometimes it takes longer to get Egypt out of us than it does to get us out of Egypt

The culture and habits of Egypt was engrained in the hearts and minds of the Israelite people God could bring them out of Egypt in

Jonah ran the opposite direction from where God commanded him to go Submitting to instruction proved to be incredibly difficult He tried to hide from God’s calling on a ship but the sailors recognized the trouble that followed him

“Then they said to him, ‘Tell us, now! Who’s to blame for the calamity that has struck us? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country?

From what people are you?’ He said to them, ‘I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.’ Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, ‘How could you do this?’ The men knew that he was running from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them,” Jonah 1:8-10 Jonah’s attempt to run from God did not end well for the disobedient missionary Spiritual rebellion reaps what it sows, as God corrects those whom He loves (Hebrews 12:6) That correction came swiftly and in a dramatic way as the ship Jonah was sleeping on was suddenly engulfed by a furious storm After identifying Jonah as the target the frightened sailors looked to him for a way to appease his angry God.

“So they said to him, ‘What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us? The sea was becoming increasingly stormy He said to them, ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you ’ Jonah 1:11-12

Humility and submission would have stopped the waves. Instead Jonah stubbornly demanded to be thrown into the sea. Instead of immediately tossing him overboard the sailors attempted to fight the waves and row the ship to shore. Their efforts failed and they submitted to Jonah’s request “The sailors called on the Lord and said, ‘We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish because of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased ’ So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging,” Jonah 1:14–15 The storm seized as soon as Jonah hit the water The dazed sailors responded in reverent awe and repentant faith, “Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows,” Jonah 1:16. Despite Jonah’s determined disobedience, God used him to display His power to a crew of Gentiles.

God’s timing is perfect but He will always give us free will We can submit or stubbornly do things our way and in our timing As humans we feel we can change people much like the sailors who didn’t want to throw Jonah over board As Jonah slipped beneath the ocean’s surface, the suicidal castaway surely thought he had escaped his unwanted mission He was doing it his way even if it killed him But the Lord was not done with him, instead of allowing him to drown, “the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and.

Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights” (v 17) God spared his life but He did not reward his rebellion The belly of a whale was not a luxury hotel He wasn’t thrown a party or given a bonus for his rebellion Jonah was torn between his loyalty to God and his emotions and in the end his flesh determined his actions Because he didn’t want the mission, he decided to leave and get away from the responsibility. Jonah would not totally submit to God as His Lord.

We had habits and thought patterns that were formed in our sin nature When we got saved those thought patterns and habits came with us God uses the delays to break those habits and thought patterns and train you in His way of thinking and doing things Be patient and let God do His work in your life while you do your part of being obedient He will lead you through the wilderness but it’s your response that determines how long you stay there You can stay three days or 40 years God gives us free will to be as stuburn as we like He was there when Jonah was spit from the whale’s belly and He was there when the Israelites moved out of the wilderness and He’s waiting for you. If you don’t have a Bible please contact me at sfadebbie@yahoo com and I will provide you with one