Dear Ones,
May you wake to a day filled with the assurance that the Lord is always waiting to hear from you and his ear is open to your cry. Today is our 59th Wedding Anniversary and we are thankful for each day the Lord has given us together. We are invited to friends today and tomorrow we plan to go out for steak dinner and celebrate. EmojiEmoji
Devotions from Judy’s heart
While sitting in church on Sunday I was rather surprised when our pastor read the passage of scripture that was the exact chapter from the Bible that I read that morning. It was from Jonah 1 and since it was put before me a second time within a couple hours, it usually means the Lord is wanting to get my attention. Jonah was in a raging storm and from his own doing as he was running from God and avoiding the task the Lord had given him to do. Instead of giving the people of Nineveh a warning that they needed to repent of their wickedness, he chose to go the opposite way and got on a ship to Tarshish, consequently getting in a huge storm. He didn’t obey and was thrown into the water to calm the sea and swallowed by a great fish. Being in the stomach of the fish for 3 days helped him have a change of heart.

After thinking more about Jonah, early the next morning I was awakened about 3 a.m. to pray for someone that is in a tight situation, you might call it the “Jonah hold”. He is floundering and much like one being thrown into the sea of chaos. I got on my knees and prayed and later went to the second chapter of Jonah for it says in Jonah 2:2, “I called to the Lord in my distress, and He answered me. From the depths of my watery grave I called for help, and you heard my cry.” Jonah was desperate and his life was slipping away but when he called to the Lord, He brought him back from the pit. Like many today, if you are now reading this and also in a desperate place and feel like you have no place to go, look up to the Lord and cry out for help. Quit striving to get out of the fix on your own and be like Jonah who asked for God’s help. Jonah concludes his prayer by saying, “But I’m worshiping you, God, calling out in thanksgiving! And I’ll do what I promised I’d do!  Salvation belongs to God.”

When we live life in selfish ways on our own terms, we get into big messes. But let us not run from the Lord and go on our own, but cry to the Lord and run to Him! He will hear and answer us and take our messes and give us a message to share with others where they may also go. Then like Jonah, we will be filled with praise and thanksgiving instead of watching our life slip away. His obedience also ended up saving a whole city from destruction.

Challenge for today: Make your first response to situations of distress to call on the Lord and then be willing to obey as Jonah.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy