Thread by @GPrater85015

#GeraldsDevotional
The Will and the Plan of God

The well-known story of Jonah (and the whale) illustrates to us the important lesson that God’s plan is perfect and His will indeed shall be accomplished. We often have our own ideas, opinions and desires, but His word (which is His truth) does not change.

In this book about the

life of this minor prophet, God clearly calls him at the beginning of the book to go and warn Nineveh about their evil because judgment was coming. That made Jonah uncomfortable so he went in another direction and followed his own plan (one that was more comfortable to him).

We all know that Jonah ultimately spent 3 days in the belly of a whale so that God could let him know that He was serious. But along the way, notice how God used even Jonah’s rebellion to get the attention of heathens (idolaters who worshiped false gods and didn’t know the true

God… even they saw the signs of the LORD and inquired).

In the end Jonah did go to Nineveh and God’s purpose was accomplished. But along the way, God’s glory was revealed in surprising ways while Jonah was brought back onto His path. God’s way is THE way, He is THE truth and we

only break ourselves when we embrace the ways and the truths of others and of our own desires.

10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there, but water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower and bread to

the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. - Isaiah 55:10-11

Jonah Runs from the Lord
1 The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of

Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship

leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

4 But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. 5 Fearing for their lives, the desperate

sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.

But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. 6 So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he

will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”

7 Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. 8 “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are

you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?” - Jonah 1:1-8
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