Salvation belongs to the Lord

7 When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!” Jonah 1:7-9

My daily devotional had me in Jonah today, a book I could write about for days. Jonah is a book that speaks about running from God.. I’ve done it. I’ve known people who have… in fact, I know people who ARE running from God now.

God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh.. he went exactly in the opposite direction to Tarshish. Exact opposite direction. Further, he told people on the boat he was in that He was running from God, and when the storm arose, he KNEW it was because he had disobeyed God. He asked the men to throw him into the sea so they would be saved…. and God saved Jonah.

God gave Jonah a second chance to do what He had asked him… to go to Nineveh and preach so that the people of Nineveh would be saved… and this time, Jonah obeyed.

Had Jonah not obeyed God, the people would not have been saved. Jonah would not have been saved.

Have you ever run from God? Done exactly the opposite of what you know He wants you to do? Are you now?

There are a handful of times in my life where I felt the Holy Spirit direct me to do something very specific. One of those times I said, “No”. Unequivocally no. I had an argument with God, Lol. I felt He was asking me to make myself vulnerable and I just wasn’t going to do it. I basically said those exact words in my head.

“Nope, Lord. I’m not going to do it. I’ve done a lot of things for You, but I’m not doin THAT!” Days later, the same command. Again, I said “No.”. Days later, a third time, the same command. Each time the command was exactly the same… He didn’t say it louder each time, or preface it with “I told you…”. It was simply the command. The THIRD time I heard it, I literally said.. to the God of the Universe, “I hope You know what You’re doing”… and I did what He asked of me. I couldn’t have guessed in my wildest dreams how God was about to bless me because of my obedience. But more than me, God brought others to saving grace because I had obeyed Him.

God is still in the miracle business… still using people like Jonah and me… Imperfect, scared people with a tendency to run to reach people who need to know Jesus.

Stop running today. Stop and listen. God wants to save you more than you can imagine. Where is your Nineveh? go there today. Don’t wait. He is there for you.

Be blessed my friends

SB