Jonah | betsybeadhead

We are currently taught that Jesus will come again. We are taught to wait for the future. We aren’t taught to be thankful for the now.

Jesus tells us that there will be no more signs in this generation except the sign of Jonah. Many people take that to mean the fact that Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days, and Jesus lay in the tomb for three days.

Or did he? If he died on Friday afternoon and arose from the grave on Sunday morning as we are told, that is hardly three days. It isn’t even 48 hours. But I digress. Perhaps that is part of what is going on. I feel we are being distracted from what is really important.

What if the sign of Jonah is when people learn to be thankful for what is happening right now? Not when we are freed. Not when we are healed. Not when we reach the Promised Land. Jonah gave thanks while in the belly of the whale. While standing in the middle of a bad situation he praised God. Then he was released.

How often did Jesus tell people that their faith has saved them? Simply by seeking him out, they were healed. His healing of them was to let them know that they were forgiven their sins. We are all forgiven. We are all called to forgive. When we forgive others, we are bringing forth the same healing. Our weakness causes us to seek wholeness, and from that we gain the power to help others.

God is the great “I AM”. Not I was, or will be. Think about the idea of God being the Alpha and the Omega at the same time. Our human brains can’t really comprehend that. We can barely handle paying attention to right now, but that isn’t due to our capacity. That is due to our culture.

We are taught that happiness is to be found in the past or in the future. We are taught to focus on the “good old days” for how wonderful they were. We are taught to look forward to the future for when things will get better. The problem is that the good old days weren’t really all that good when we really think about it, because we weren’t even fully participating in them when we were living through them. We were thinking about the past and the future then too. We miss quite a bit of what is actually happening all the time. When we finally get to the future we won’t be happy then either because we are going to be doing the same thing. We’ll think we were better off “back then,” and that we will be better off “soon.”

There are a lot of modern thinkers, artists, creators, and dreamers who believe that there is a change coming. They are talking about a shift in consciousness that is about to occur. They look forward to this new era of peace and enlightenment.

I am telling you that the bud is the blossom. The seed is the fruit. I am telling you that the fact that we can see the goal means we are there.

We have changed. We are conscious of what our responsibility is. We are awake. Not all of us, no. But enough to have generated enough momentum.

We need to see how things are changing around us. How people are waking up.

We need to focus on what is going on right now that is right and good and joyful and keep doing it.

Do not give any energy to what is broken. That is what it wants. The more we focus on “if only” thoughts, the less we are focusing on building up what is going well.

Oprah says what we focus on expands. There is a lot of power in remembering this. Choose wisely.

I really like Jonah. He seems so real to me. There are so many people in the Old Testament who when God calls to them they say right away “Here I am” and get right to what God is asking them to do. This is so not like me, and I suspect a lot of people. Many people might think “Oh no! I’m hearing a voice in my head! I must be crazy!” Or if they do realize it is the voice of God, they think “Really? Now? I’m really getting comfortable here, God. Can’t this wait until after the game/my children have grown up/ I’ve retired?” We are forever putting off what we are called to do. Yet we forget that is why we are here – we are part of God’s plan. We are part of creation, and we are co-creators with God. He works through and with us to bring about His will.

Jonah is like us. He hears the voice of God, telling him to go to Ninevah and tell them they are screwing up and to repent. Did he go to Ninevah? Oh gosh no. He heads off in completely the opposite direction. A lot of other cool things happen – a storm, lots are cast and it is discovered Jonah is the reason for the storm, Jonah fesses up, the shipmates are impressed by how powerful the God of the Jews is. Jonah asks to be thrown overboard. He has no idea that God has arranged for a huge whale to swallow him up. He just knows that he has messed up and it is time to pay for his error. Perhaps he hopes he can finally get out of having to go to Ninevah.

But God rescues him. He is in the belly of the whale for three days. I can’t even imagine liking being in a whale’s gut for three minutes, much less three days. It had to be dark. It had to be smelly. No sound other than the gurgle of the whale’s organs and the sea outside. Fish bits floating around. Warmth? I doubt it.

Yet here is the amazing thing. Jonah didn’t raise his fist against God in that time. He praised God. Praised Him! How many of us have the fortitude to say “Thanks! You are an awesome God!” while in the middle of our own personal whales? We all get swallowed up by whales – divorce, disease, disaster. All those huge life events that can either make us turn away from God (How dare you do this to me…) or turn towards God (Hey, can you do me a favor…) No. Jonah sang God’s praises.

In the middle of tragedy, there are still things to be thankful for. Look for those things. Give thanks for them. And, like Jonah, may you be delivered safely upon the shore after you give thanks.

(Originally posted on FB on 11-13-12)