Jonah ... Get up and Go!

Dear friend ... Breathe deeply.   Take a few moments to center yourself on God who calls us to come, calls us to get up and calls us to go.    As you breathe and settle into a place of deep quiet within yourself, listen for God ... if other voices distract you from your time of quiet, stop and acknowledge those errant voices, plan to attend to them after you finish your time with God and turn your attention back to your breathing!  If you aren't sure where the voices are coming from ... the silent one is God :)

As you breathe deeply, say a "breath prayer"

     Inhale:   God of Jonah ...

     Pause ...

     Exhale:  I will go  ...

     Pause ...

Repeat this breath prayer or create your own until you feel it is time to move from prayer into the sacred reading of the biblical text, and then ... Pray:

    

     Let me hear your voice in the text as I read

Read this Jonah passage slowly, immersing yourself in this story of the prophet who finally surrenders to the call of God to carry a prophetic message.   Remember (or read Jonah 1-2 if you don't know the story) that Jonah has previously run from God the first time God spoke, let's just say he didn't care for his assignment, and wound up languishing inside a great fish for 3 days.  He had time for some serious self-evaluation and prayer before finally being spit out upon the beach to live another day ...  

Jonah 3:1-5, 10 (NLT)    Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”   This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.   On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”  The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.   When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

Read the passage again slowly and Reflect on the journey of Jonah from hearing to doing.   Or perhaps you find yourself thinking about those Ninevites as they come to believe Jonah's words.  Listen for a word or a phrase that draws your attention.   Repeat that word or phrase.  Ponder this Word or phrase through which God is speaking to YOU as you let the story unfold in your mind and heart.   Where does your word or phrase intersect your life where you are right now … as you feel yourself listening, not listening, obeying, not obeying, doing, not doing, speaking, not speaking, praying, not praying, fasting, not fasting ... How are you responding, not responding … make an honest assessment, where are you?

Read the passage again slowly and Respond.   Share with God how you feel about what you are hearing through your word or phrase.  Share with God how you feel about your sense of response.  Speak your word or phrase out loud and ask God to help you surrender to the word you have heard and the wisdom it holds as you explore its meaning for you where you are right now.   Take a moment or more to journal what you are hearing and how you will respond, don't think about the words, just write and let your deepest thoughts rise into your consciousness.

Read the passage again and Rest.  Allow the presence of God to surround you and deepen your faith so you are able to surrender to God's call.  Rest until the peace of God settles into your soul ...

When you sense the time to move on, Pray: God of Jonah, you know where to challenge me and you know what my response will be before I even make it.  Let me always go where you lead me and speak the word you give to me.  And if I am on the other side have mercy, O God, and help me weep and turn and follow you.    Amen.

Cindy's Journal Reflection ... God changed God’s mind!  In religious terms, God repented?  God turned and went in a different direction.  God was going to destroy evil, but God instead invited change … and brought transformation to a people … transformation that came through hearing a word from God AND from fasting and prayer, that's some serious self-evaluation.  God changed God’s mind.  I remember the many number of times I deserved to be destroyed but God chose life for me.  And I am grateful!  I remember how many times I have struggled to respond to God and God waited with me through my own serious self-evaluation.  And I am grateful!  I remember that sometimes I feel that I am inside the great fish, and sometimes I feel that I have been spit out upon the beach, and sometimes I get up and go!   Perhaps that is what serious self-evaluation takes.  If I am honest, today I am feeling that I am inside the great fish :( doing some serious self-evaluation myself ... and even though I don't feel it, I know that God is with me ... and I am so grateful!   Thank you God ... Amen.