God Tends Us 2

Jonah 2:10-3:2

Second chances don’t always come around in life. But I believe that when we have a relationship with God we are often provided with a second chance in many situations. Jonah disobeyed God and did not want to be the Lord’s prophet. Trying to get away from serving God he ended up on a sinking ship and then was swallowed by a big fish. Things were not going well for Jonah.

But, given three days to think about his situation, Jonah realized how great God was. He prayed to God, praised Him for His greatness, and then pledged to obey.

What did God command? What did God say?

Someone has pointed out that God did things differently than most of us would. He had Jonah in a difficult situation. He could have told Jonah what He wanted and then released him from the fish only after Jonah agreed to obey.

But God took a different approach. God set Jonah free from the fish and then told him to go to Nineveh. Free from the bondage of his mistake Jonah could have backed out a second time. He could have tried once more to flee to Tarshish. But Jonah realized how good and wonderful God is and so was willing now to do as God asked.

Sometimes our decisions land us in hot water. Sometimes when we try to do things our way, when we try to live life the way we ant to and not the way God wants us to we end up in difficult situations.

But we must trust in the fact that God loves us and will take care of us. God often gives us a second chance, an opportunity to turn our lives around and head in the proper direction. God frees us from the bondage of our own mistakes. When we confess the greatness of the Almighty God we are given a new outlook on life. We can face things with a new perspective and a new attitude. We can change and do the right and holy thing.

And this can happen when we trust in the care that God gives us. Having the opportunity to consider our mistakes and our present situation, to realize what we have done wrong so we can do things right is part of God’s way of caring for us.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you recognize God’s compassion even in the difficult situations of life?