THE MERCIES OF GOD
”Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.“
When you read through the prayer Jonah made after realizing the mercy of God in offering multiple chances and contingencies before leaving him to his disobedience, you notice the heart posture of a man who has encountered God because all things worked together for his good ().
As he reflects on the occurrences that led up to him being swallowed up by a fish, he ends his reflection by a rude awakening that truly there are many (false) gods and when you focus on them, you forsake The One True God in the process. No one could have imagined that sitting in a fish’s stomach was a buffer to buy the prophet time in case he would choose repent and turn to God.
Child of God, though the mercy of God follows you to deliver you from all calamity and to speak better things for you through Christ, it still does not counter your will, especially if this will persists to harden your heart.
After Jonah poured out his heart having realized that even being seated in a fish’s stomach is an extension of mercy, the Bible says “the Lord ordered the fish to spit him out”, for now he was a man kept at bay from the unavoidable consequences of disobedience by God’s mercy!
Receive the Father’s mercies, and let your eyes be opened to recognize and acknowledge it, especially when it doesn’t ‘feel like it’.
Prayer: Father I thank you for this truth. Like the psalmist reckons, I am confident that goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life. May I always walk with the consciousness that your mercy bloats out my sin and your goodness avails all that I need that I may be fully capable to do the works of my Father, in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!
CI.
