What Did Jonah Learn? Episode 2

Faith Journey | Rev. Kenn Blanchard

• Mother Teresa said, be faithful in small things because it is in that your strength lies.

You are listening to Faith Journey and I am your host Kenn Blanchard.

I hope I didn’t shock you too much with our change last week. It was all of a sudden for some. Missed a few episodes and then BAM what happened? I know. Its like that sometimes. What did you miss? If you don’t know I can’t call it.

This week, I want to talk about the journey of a prophet that didn’t want to go to a big city and give bad news. It was kinda like when you are doing the right thing and finally got your act together and the Lord wants you to testify, witness, preach, sing, visit, feed, basically work. And sometimes, you haven’t got yourself together yet, you are waiting for something and the Lord says move. You second guess Him. You pretend you didn’t hear Him. You hope you didn’t hear Him. You even convince yourself you didn’t hear HIM.

In your Faith journey your mileage may vary. God however does not change. He is the real deal. The only consistency in our lives. His values don’t change with the culture. He doesn’t deviate from his nature, His Word, or His Will for us.

At the time of the release of this episode I am Missouri. I got the opportunity to preach in at Union Grove Freewill Baptist Church in Norwood, Missouri. I believe I was sent there. I will find out why when I am there. How I got there was as sudden as the change of this podcast.

More on that later.

• The question of the week is Where would you find the story of Nicodemus?
• And the answer to last weeks question for those that found it in the show notes is John 2. I missed saying it on last weeks episode but posted it in the show notes. Ah haaaa. Bonus points if you saw it there.

Get your bible and find the Old Testament book of Jonah. While I was studying this minor prophet’s journey, I pictured that he was swallowed by a Grouper. They are pretty big fish that can gulp down their prey and 2000 years ago, it was probably as large as minivan.

The big city that Jonah had to go to was called Nineveh. It was somewhere near Mosul, in modern day Iraq.

This story is interesting. In far more ways that the fish story. Jonah, first didn’t want to go, then he basically wanted to commit suicide, the Lord wasn’t having it, then he got his mind right, did what he was supposed to do and then got mad at God when the people did right. He was hoping they would not and get destroyed. He wanted God to still slap them. I see a lot of Jonah in other people. But it doesn’t end there. God had to still talk to Jonah like a spoiled child later and show him something.

Jonah’s journey was more than spending three days and nights in the belly of great fish. Your journey is bigger than the predicament you are in. your situation, your sin, your short coming, your frustrations. God is not finished with you yet. IF He didn’t quit on you, why are you selling yourself short? Why are you giving up? Why are you settling? Why have you stopped praying? Why have you stopped believing in faith?

Voltaire said faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.

• Prayer
• Bad music.
• Love you,

Kenn