If you follow my For the Journey posts on Facebook, you know I’ve been studying Jonah lately. I’ve actually looked at it for multiple projects and just haven’t been able to turn loose of it yet. As I was reading through the book this last time, I couldn’t help thinking that God chose Jonah knowing he would run from the call. God chose Jonah knowing that, even after he made it to Nineveh after almost drowning and spending some time trapped inside a great fish to deliver the Lord’s message, he would be absolutely furious that God spared the Ninevites and used him to do so.
Why Jonah then? Why not choose a prophet who would go the first time God asked and who would have rejoiced like never before to see a whole city repent and be saved from destruction? Though the book would no longer be called Jonah, it would certainly be an amazing, true story of revival with the happiest of endings.
But, where would that leave Jonah? He would still be a prophet, a man of God, yet one with so much hatred hidden in his heart he could desire the destruction of over 120,000 people, one who would rather die than live in a world where the Ninevites could receive grace and mercy. Jonah needed the Ninevites as much or more than they needed him. That’s why God chose Jonah, why it had to be him. Jonah needed to witness God’s power to bring about His will. Jonah needed to witness God’s love for all people, even the Ninevites. And, Jonah needed to come face-to-face with the darkness of his own heart. God chose Jonah for Jonah’s sake.
When God calls you, whatever it may be that He calls you to, it’s for your sake as much as for anyone else’s. I was 17 when, after wondering what I was supposed to do and tossing ideas around pretty much my whole life, I finally knew. I finally heard God’s call. I went upstairs too excited to wait until the next day to tell my parents and announced that I was going to write Sunday School literature. In one of the more awkward moments of my teenage years, they didn’t say a word. Not a single word. I think it may have floored them more than the time I told them I was going to shake paint at Walmart. So, I said, “Okay, well, I’m just going to go back to bed.” A day or so later, Dad told me I might need to go to a Bible college, and eventually, that’s where I ended up.
Sometimes I try to imagine how my life would have gone if not for that night. I try to picture who I would be, where I would be, what my life would look like. Every time I let my mind go there I can’t see anything good. I’m pretty sure my life without that night or my life had I responded differently that night would be disastrous.
I want to believe and I certainly hope that the Sunday School lessons I write are having an impact on the children, teens, and adults studying them from week-to-week. That said, I know so much of the journey has been for me. I know that through my calling God gave my life a joy I never had before. He gave my life meaning and purpose. I know He’s used my calling to convict and challenge me over and over. I know God’s used it to grow my faith in Him and in His ability to work through me, unworthy as I am. Some of my greatest blessings have been watching Him move in the ministry He gave me. It’s been as much or more for me than anyone else.
I recently looked back at one of the first lessons I wrote. Usually when I look at stuff I wrote years ago, my reaction is to want to destroy it (and much to my mother’s chagrin, I’ve been known to do just that at times). I see a glaring error I can’t help wondering how many people noticed, or it just doesn’t seem as good as I remembered it being. This time, it was different. I was looking at this lesson and was literally almost in tears because the girl who wrote that lesson had no idea the journey she was beginning or where it would take her and also because it was so obvious God was in it from the beginning.
Don’t miss all God has for you as well as others by ignoring His call. If God is calling you to reach out to a neighbor or coworker, do it. If He’s calling you to start leading a Bible study at your work or start teaching a Sunday School class, do it. If He’s calling you to share your story, share it. If He’s calling you to something as drastic and life-changing as becoming a missionary, do it. There are people who need you to answer that call, who are counting on you to answer that call, whether they know it or not. But, you need to answer that call for you too because it’s going to change your life in the best of ways.
justsamjw 