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Put yourself in Jonah's shoes for a moment. In the recent past you've made some extremely poor choices. In fact, you've flat out rebelled against God. As a result you find yourself on a downward journey with your circumstances becoming extremely dark and miserable. Things seem so terrible that you can't imagine them getting any worse. Not only that, but you are convinced that there is no way they will ever get any better. To top it off, you can't see how or why God would want anything to be do with you anymore. That's how badly you've blown it. Jonah was in a place of unspeakable misery and despair for three days and three nights. How hot must it have been inside of that whale? What about the humidity? His heart and mind were filled with anxiety and fear. Was it possible that things could get worse? Little did Jonah know that things were going to change big time. Not only were things going to change, but they were going to change very quickly. Scripture tells us that "The Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah up onto dry land." Just as quickly as he had been swallowed up and enveloped in darkness, heat, and horrific humidity, he was expelled from the belly of the fish. In the twinkling of an eye Jonah found himself sprawled out on the beach. From the beginning of his horrific experience until the moment the fish vomited, Jonah believed that his rebelliousness had taken him to a place of hopelessness. What he didn't realize was that God was steering the fish. Father was directing the creature to carry Jonah to just the spot that he needed to be. Perhaps at this moment you are in a dark place? It could be that like Jonah you have made some extremely poor choices along the way. It could be that you feel like you have no hope and that there is no possibility that your circumstances are ever going to change for the better. I pray that you will find hope and encouragement from Jonah! Please believe that things will not always be as they are. Jonah had no clue what God had up His sleeve. For three days and three nights, Jonah very literally could not see what God was doing. He was enveloped in total darkness. For all he knew, the sea beast was randomly swimming in circles in the sea. What he didn't realize was that every movement was in reality being orchestrated by God. He may have felt like God had cast him aside. What Jonah felt was very far from reality. He felt abandoned. He felt forsaken. He felt that he had no hope. Yet, every single moment of his time in the fish, God had hold of the rudder and was doing the steering. Then suddenly without warning everything changed in a way that Jonah had never imagined possible Audio Bible studies from musician, audio blogger, and part-time theologian James Flanders can be heard on his main website, YouTube and in the "Salvation of All" audio and video archive.
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James Flanders, Jonah, rebellion, hope, twinkling of an eye, circumstances change, hopelessness, bad choices, fear and anxiety,
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