These last few weeks I have had one of
my, what I have affectionately termed, "Jonah moments." If you
recall, Jonah was called on by God to evangelize. Jonah felt that his own
plan was better, so he fled on a boat. While on this boat, storms came up
and the crew figured it was Jonah's fault, so they tossed him overboard and
Jonah was consumed by the whale. And before you know it, Jonah was spit
out on the shore. From there Jonah trusted God and evangelized as he was
asked by God.
A Jonah Moment comes in three
particular phases. Phase one, a person is asked to do something by
another person in charge, a spouse, parent, whoever. If said person does
not do what it asked of them, it is often because they think their personal
plan is better and deny the request or move in their own direction, phase
two. The final phase is when said person realizes that their plan or
choice was not the correct choice and they go back to what was originally asked
of them and complete the task. If you need an example of the three phases
in action, just ask a teenager, for if they are like my teenager, they have
mastered this concept.
I find that every now and then, just
like a teenager, I go through these phases, and just so happen to be going
through a Jonah moment. I have been given a task with a plan of attack,
and I am pretty sure my way is better. I am positive I do not want to do
the plan as I probably should, because I am scared of the ramifications that
might come. I have let my fears overcome the desired outcome. I
believe that when we fear, we have taken our eyes off the prize, God's plan,
and that until we give it to Him, we are going to be in the belly of the whale.
That being said, I have also shared my
concerns with others, prayed about it, and feel that maybe I am just about to
be spit up on the shore, so to speak, hopefully soon. These feelings have
come after thought and prayer, asking God to guide me, give me the wisdom and
understanding to know His path for me. I have to trust in Him and allow
Him to use me as He wants me, whether it is my plan or not.
The best thing one can do
to avoid those Jonah moments is to give it all to God, and completely trust in
His plans. However, when we fail, we need to realize our errors and get
back on track, so we can spend as little time in the whale as possible.