Summer At Sea: Week 8 Day 1

Jonah 1:17 NIRV

And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

To ancient peoples, the sea was the edge of the known world, a place where creation separated from the dominion of man, transitioning to a realm of death and chaos. It’s from that abyss that the great fish came to snatch Jonah, giving him exactly what he had set out to find, a place away from the presence of the LORD.

Jonah had been tasked with a mission of compassion, and as we’ll see going forward, he repeatedly chose death over God’s plans. He had an idea of how God should feel and refused to participate in the grace and forgiveness that is evidence of God’s nature.

Every day, we’re presented with similar choices. We get to be kind, we get to love our neighbors; we get to share redemption and hope, reorienting the world toward peace and mercy. Anything else is submission to turmoil. Anything else denies the authority of God to care for all people.

Where have you seen the Holy Spirit reach out through the chaos in your life?