|
About
CFCFFL
Who
is the CFCFFL?
The
Movement for Restoration Our
Covenant
Our
Mission and Vision
Our Statement of philosophy
Our
Core Values
Family Ministries Kids
for Family and Life (KFL) Youth
for Family and Life (YFL)
Singles
for Family and Life (SFL)
Handmaids
for Family and Life (HFL)
Servants
for Family and Life (SvFL)
Wish
to JOIN?
The
highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity,
choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over
popularity.
Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for THERE IS
NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
-
Bishop Soc Villegas
25 July 2007
|
<<Go
back to menu
LESSONS OF JOB
(Part 5)
JONAH IN THE TEMPEST
Today's reading once again
brings us to an encounter with destructive waters, as Jonah and the ship
he is on were caught up in a furious tempest at sea. God "hurled a
violent wind upon the sea, and in the furious tempest that arose the
ship was on the point of breaking up." (Jonah 1:4). This happened
because Jonah was avoiding God's call for him to preach against Nineveh.
God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach in order to bring that
wicked city to repentance. God was showing His mercy. But in the
process, God was punishing innocent people, the mariners and everyone
else on the boat with Jonah. Favor the bad, but chastise the good? We
cannot fully fathom the depth of God's wisdom. We can only rest on our
conviction that He is just and righteous. God will accomplish His
purposes, many times not according to our human wisdom and ways.
See what happened.
The mariners, frightened by the violent storm, cried to their gods (Jon
1:5). Jonah told them "I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who
made the sea and the dry land." (Jon 1:9). Ultimately, the mariners
also cried out to the true God (Jon 1:14). They acknowledged: "you,
Lord, have done as you saw fit." (Jon 1:14). They were "struck
with great fear of the Lord" (Jon 1:16a). Finally, they
"offered sacrifice and made vows to him" (Jon 1:16b). Wow!
Such conversion of pagans! And founded on truths that took Job much
discussion with his friends to realize: reverential fear; God acting
according to His own sovereignty; acknowledgment of His power and
control over nature; realization that their lives were entirely in His
hands. Such deep conversion could not have happened if not for the
calamity that was upon them!
Notice in particular Jonah 1:16. "Struck with great fear of the
Lord, the men offered sacrifice and made vows to him." Reverential
fear is our proper posture before God. "The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge" (Prov 1:7a). Such awe of God in His
majesty--seeing His control of the forces of nature, causing a furious
tempest and then abating its raging--is the foundation of rightly
relating to Him. Awe leads to worship. Awe leads to living out our
covenant with Him.
It is worthy to note that basically the same thing happened to Jesus'
disciples, in the incident of the calming of the storm at sea (see Mark
4:35-41). Storms get our attention, and put us in the proper posture of
helplessness which leads to humility. Then we experience the awesome
power and majesty of God, which brings us to faith and worship.
There is more. The mariners and Jonah were made to suffer, but their
suffering resulted in Jonah finally surrendering to God's will. Jonah
himself spends three days in the belly of a large fish. There he turned
to God in his distress, and acknowledged Him once again. He preaches in
Nineveh, causing the sinful city's conversion. Suffering is
redemptive--for oneself and for others. And redemptive suffering paves
the way for one's being used in the power of the Spirit to evangelize
and bring about conversion of sinners. Notice how powerful Jonah's
preaching was. Jonah himself was not a seasoned prophet but was quite
reluctant, even fleeing from the Lord's command. Nineveh itself was very
wicked. Jonah had just preached for a single day but the whole people
and the king repented.
The majesty of God, redemptive suffering, awe of God, being humbled by
the circumstance around us outside our control, the mercy of God--all
these are the lessons contained in this very short story of Jonah. We
cannot fully know the ways of God--why He allows Satan to severely
afflict Job, why He afflicts the mariners in order to bring Jonah back
to His plan, why He allows typhoon Ondoy to afflict His beloved people
especially the poor. We can only be in awe of and humbled by His divine
majesty. We can only trust in His justice and righteousness, and that He
is in control and nothing happens just by chance. God is about His
divine purposes, and is committed ultimately to the good of His people.
Let us make Jonah's prayer our own. When affliction comes, when the
flood envelops us (Jon 2:4), when the waters swirl about us, threatening
our lives (Jon 2:6a), when we are down deep in the pit, with the bars of
the nether world seemingly closing behind us forever (Jon 2:7), let us
turn even more fervently to God and be confident in His help. "Out
of my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me; from the midst
of the nether world I cried for help, and you heard my voice." (Jon
2:3). When our soul is faint within us, when we are ready to give up,
when we start to blame God, when we are weary and hopeless and helpless,
let us immerse in prayer, confident that God hears and helps. "When
my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; my prayer reached you
in your holy temple." (Jon 2:8).
Finally, let us reexamine our lives. What do we hold important? What are
our priorities? How much do we pursue the idols of money, power,
pleasure? (As many experienced with Ondoy, possessions and the treasures
of a lifetime can be swept away and destroyed so easily). Do we find our
comfort and security in such idols? "Those who worship vain idols
forsake their source of mercy. But I, with resounding praise, will
sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay: deliverance is from the
Lord." (Jon 2:9-10). When we turn to God, when we worship Him, when
we live out our covenant, then we will receive His divine mercy. Then He
will deliver us from our afflictions.
When Job had learned the lessons, God restored him and blessed him
twofold. When Jonah had learned the lessons, God "commanded the
fish to spew Jonah upon the shore." (Jon 2:11). Then he moved on to
become a blessing to Nineveh. When we learn the lessons of Job and of
Jonah, then we will experience the fullness of the deliverance of God
and His divine mercy, and will be used by Him as effective instruments
of evangelization.
There will be floods, there will be afflictions, but God is always there
in the midst of the tempest. When we know our place, when we are
faithful to our call and live out our covenant, even us we do not fully
understand the ways of God, then we will experience the justice and
righteousness of our God.
God bless you all.
frank
(October 05, 2009)
Go
to Part 6>>
|
