Day 30 – November 8, 2012 – 40 Day Spiritual Journey

GOD VS. SUPERNANNY
FASTING – TODAY WE WILL BE FASTING “FOOD”.
READ Jonah 2: 1-10
REFLECT

If you have ever seen the show Supernanny, you know that she teaches you to put your poorly behaved child in a time out and leave them there. You set a timer and don’t look at them or speak to them until the time out is over. Aren’t you glad God isn’t like that?

Jonah messed up. God gave him a specific task and destination and Jonah literally went in the other direction. That action had the rather unfortunate consequence of a three night stay inside a whale.

This “time out” gave Jonah the time he needed to think through his situation. He realized that it had been a mistake to disobey God and instead of sitting in the whale belly, wallowing in self-pity, he decided to go back to God and the relationship that was so important to him. He cried out to God, sharing his thoughts and feelings and regrets, not so he could end his punishment quickly, but because he wanted to make things right. And God was right there for Jonah. He didn’t ignore him until the punishment timer went off. The Bible says God listened to Jonah and answered Him.

BOTTOM LINE

God is always there for us, regardless of our actions and choices. We just have to turn  to Him.

LIVE

When you’ve messed up, it’s easy to let your regret consume you or to feel that maybe God has stopped loving you or that He has put you in a room to think about what you’ve done and won’t be back until you’ve got things figured out. Thankfully, that isn’t the case at all. Jesus came to earth to have a relationship with us in all our messiness and confusion. He didn’t come looking for the people who come closest to perfection. Sure, sometimes our actions hurt Him and we still have to face the consequences of our choices, but when we call to Him at that low point in our lives, He comes running. What an amazing thing: to have unconditional love even, and especially, when we’ve made a bad decision.

PRAY

God, thank you so much for your patience with me even as I make mistakes again and again. Help me to remember that I can always turn to you, no matter what I’ve done.

Crystal Martin

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Carey Nieuwhof

Written By

Carey Nieuwhof

Carey is the founding pastor of Connexus Church and has been serving in ministry since 1995. He is passionate about leading people into a relationship with Christ and helping people thrive in life and leadership.

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