Fields United Methodist Church

Pastor Tom’s Weekly Blog.                    “A Thanksgiving Heart”                Jonah 2

September 11, 2020

“As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to you.”

Jonah 2:7

The story of Jonah is about as old as the Bible itself yet it still relevant to our lives today. We may never get swallowed by a big fish as Jonah did but we sometimes find ourselves swallowed up with the issues of the day or the results of our sinful actions; even though we try to run from them, they are with us. It is easy to have a thankful heart when the path is well-marked and the destination is in sight. When we pray over the food that is on the table, we thank God for what we see and receive. We thank God when life is good, and everything is well. But what about the times when life does not seem so good, uncertainty and challenges put us in the proverbial “belly of the whale,” where all our challenges seem magnified. In Jonah’s case, he prayed in the midst of the uncertain darkness within the depths of a whale to the certainty of the presence of God; he “remembered the Lord.” Sometimes it takes a life-changing event to come to terms with our absolute need for God in our lives. When we are swallowed up by events of our day and the frailty of life, that is when the presence of God becomes so real, so precious, so needed.  God always is and has been with us, but we need reminders, for some it is a subtle hint, for others it is “like the rush of a violent wind…” (Acts 2:2) Either way, the reality is that God has never left your side, not for one minute. Jonah prayed with a “voice of thanksgiving” which testified that his life, even though he attempted to run from God, was a symphony of thanksgiving to the One who created him and called him. Living a life of thanksgiving uses the time even in “the belly of a whale,” to understand even more fully the presence of God and realizing that it is by the grace of God that we continue to move forward convinced that nothing will separate us from the “love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Even in times of “running away from God,” God never gives up on us, never. Even in our darkest day, even in the depths of sin we have dug for ourselves, our Lord Jesus Christ extends the arm of mercy and grace to all who turn to him; this is a promise bought and paid for by Jesus.

Thank you Jesus!

Rev. Tom Joyce, pastor

Fields United Methodist Church