I’ve been waiting all day to be in a resourceful enough mood to write my post for the day. It should have been easy: 72 degrees on a perfectly clear day in New Hampshire. The lake was so smooth I was able to drink my coffee while we were in the boat going full speed. That, my friends, is a rare event.
Later, David and I got to have lunch with one of my oldest friends, Mark MacDonald. One of these days I’m going to blog about what he is doing for the kingdom. Phenomenal. You’ve all benefitted from this fellow companion whose name you probaby don’t even know! We talked generosity; we talked changing church; we talked about our families; mostly we talked about ways to use our lives for the kingdom. It was an important discussion, and we loved it!
But having said all that and experienced all that, I’m still empathizing with the old prophet Jonah tonight. I kind of want to know where you go to quit. I want to find a shady vine and sit under it. Maybe even curse at a worm if it dares interupt my shade. Tonight I don’t really care at all about Ninevah. Have you ever felt that way? Ninevah had its chance. It didn’t listen the first time; why should Ninevah have a second chance? And why must Jonah be the one to give it to them, as obviously unwilling as he was. Shoudn’t God call someone who WANTED to go to Ninevah? For whom Ninevah was their passion, their bliss, their dream? Why Jonah?
Yep. I know the ending of the story. I’m not going to fare any better than Jonah in this standoff. It’s off to Ninevah I will surely go, tomorrow. But not tonight. Tonight this hill, this vine, this shady spot: they are mine. And I’m staying here.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Love to read your blog Marla. Would also love to hear about Mark.
Hope your enjoying your time in New England=)
I totally get this as I had a very “Jonah” attitude with one of my relatives. After my Dad had gone home to be with the Lord, I was ticked off that God had taken my dad and not my grandmother. OK….I know you’re freaking out right now….but let me explain. My grandmother (on my Dad’s side) was not your typical sweet loving Mimi. She left my Dad’s father (for no apparent reason) when my Dad was very young and remarried several times before my Dad was 10. At one point she abandoned my Dad and he went to stay with his Aunt (actually a good thing.) My Dad basically raised himself and found his way into every pool hall in Jacksonville, FL, by age 14. He enlisted in the Navy at 18 and when he came “home” on leave, discovered his mom had moved to TN. As a child, I remember her sending gifts one Christmas….2 to my oldest sister (the one she liked,) none to my other sister (the one she didn’t like,) and lacey undergarments to me….I was 7. She never made it to any of our weddings (probably a good thing) and when my husband met her, all he could mutter later when we were alone was….she’s so mean, she’s so mean. (This is very uncharacteristic of my husband as he gets along with everyone and hardly ever has a bad word to say about others.) We had taken her out to dinner and she had reduced the waitress to tears with a single sentence. I could go on….but won’t (sorry if that was too many details…guess I still need to vent.) I was never angry at God for taking my Dad home, I just couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t have taken HER instead. However, one day a couple of months after my Dad’s death, I was thinking about this and convicted in such a way that it was like being struck by lightening. Had God taken her, she’d have gone straight to hell. She was as lost as possible. Now, I had a Dad in Heaven hoping somehow his mother would repent, come to know Christ’s saving Grace, and later join him. It brought me to tears. Who would intercede for her…on my Dad’s behalf……ME! I began to pray for her on a daily basis that somehow God would grip her heart and she would be transformed throuh the power of the Holy Spirit. I was unable to see her but prayed God would send someone. (I was in South FL at the time just beginning my family and she in a nursing home in TN.) Though I didn’t see her before her death several years later, Adrian Rogers did. If there was ever someone God could use to help her understand His forgiveness, grace, and love, Adrian Rogers was it. I won’t know til I get to Heaven if she trusted Christ, but I did what God called me to do…and I’m so thankful. We may be disgusted with the sin in someone else’s life and their turning God away over and over again, but God’s love is greater than our attitude. He accomplishes the impossible….after all…He saved me. As long as there is life, there is hope. The thief on the cross showed us that. Perhaps those Ninevites had a faithful ancestor pleading with God on their behalf.
one of my favorite posts of yours….
Wow, Becky…really? I really debated this one. It was a little whiny. But then again…we all get whiny and rarely admit it. Today was a better day!
Thanks, Tommie. And I totally understand. How come God’s plan for us is rarely attractive and just what we would have chosen for ourselves?
Jennifah!!! I miss you! Thanks for the comment. We’ve had a good — but as you can tell, stressful — trip to NE. We’ll be back end of June, early July. and then again late in July and mid August. So maybe we can meet up this summer!
yup…the honesty is so challenging to me…..the transparency…it’s what we’re called to I know…so seeing it modeled was huge. THANKS