Belly of the Whale, Part II

Na 1:1 ¶ The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
Na 1:2 ¶ God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.  

The story of Nineveh is intriguing, I can’t help but to think of our Unites States.  We have become a great nation, whose leadership has turned the hearts of the people from our God. Nineveh didn’t know God for the first round, therefore, God sends Jonah to go and warn them of their destruction if they were not willing to turn to Him, the Living God. What can we learn about God in this true event recorded in the book of Jonah and then in the book of Nahum.

God loves us! He wants the world to know about Him and He calls us as weak and powerless as we think we are, to go and spread the news of the Messiah. It blows my mind to think that God can use me to do anything for Him. How are you doing? Do you feel that sometimes you just can’t do what God has put upon your heart to do, or what you think He may WANT you to do, or what someone else expects of you? Do you find yourself measuring yourself against another woman? Shame on you! You are you. You are special, unique and one of a kind. Welcome, friend! You are just the one He can use because you first have to understand, "It is not you, anyway. It is God in you." We are nothing. God is everything. Remember, Jonah was not in the belly of the fish alone. God was there in the midst of the cesspool with him as he swam around trying to figure how to get out.

Poor Jonah didn’t trust God enough, until he was in the monster mash and his whole thinking process was literally turned upside down. You and I can be stuck in a fish or stuck somewhere else but God AIN’T STUCK NOWHERE! He knows right where He is, and more importantly, He knows right where you are. Don’t wait too long to get started with that new ministry or get back into the one you “used to” work. Time is running out and Nineveh will be destroyed.

Where is your Nineveh? Who is your Nineveh?

As my husband and I face the three score and ten, we have begun to understand why the senior side of our church is tempted to kick back and lay low. No wonder they just smile and let the younger crowd plow right through. It is burdensome to keep the old paths and stay within the old landmarks. Hey, the old songs still work, though! The King James still gets a handkerchief shaken at it every once and awhile, and the old altar still calls for the sinner to come home, softly and tenderly, friend. God has not changed! The Gospel is the same. Jesus and Jesus alone, still saves. There is no other way, friend. All we need to do is get busy doing what the Word of God says. Easy, peezey, right?

NOPE! It is not easy! It takes a lot of work which is something many of our younger crowd lack. We have to encourage them and not be critical. They need to see us work harder, stay up longer, get to work earlier, and stay ‘till the job is done. I call it “pushing through” and it is difficult for this generation to do. They want more vacations, more money; less work, bigger houses but wait……didn’t our own parents say the same about us? We are a most selfish people, aren’t we? Jonah was no different! He was selfish and wanted his way. He didn’t want to go to these God forsaken people on their way to Hell! In his mind, they deserved Hell. We all deserve it and no one is above sin. NO ONE!

And now, over a hundred years later, Nineveh is right back serving other gods, lazy, full of whoredoms, drunkenness and liars. These wicked men were acting like women according to Nahum 3:13. The famous beloved Matthew Henry describes these men as and I quote from his commentary, 

“they have no wisdom, no courage; they shall be fickle, feeble, and faint-hearted, as women commonly are in such times of danger and distress; they shall be at their wits' end, adding to their griefs and fears by the power of their own imagination, and utterly unable to do any thing for themselves; the valiant men shall become cowards.”

Whoa……COWARDS…..Sound familiar today?

Don’t back up, back in, give in, quit or run! Keep on going. Find your niche. Get started before Nineveh hears from Nahum and it is TOO LATE, people.

Na 3:5-7 Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.  And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?

It was too late for Nineveh, now. Just too late…….God said that enough was enough. Their truth of Him flourished at the beginning, but then that light became darkness.

Mt 6:23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

As we learn more and more about Him, our Great God, may we never forget He gives us light to share and multiply.  If we walk away from the light, darkness WILL take over and oh my, how dark life can be. Don’t allow your own darkness to cause you to stumble and be of no use to Him. Live today as if Nineveh depended upon it.

Until next time, Lord willing

Sharon