His Perfect Will

Matthew 12:39-40 shows the reaction of Jesus to the demands of the Pharisees for a "sign": But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

Jonah 1:17 – 2:6 is the account of Jonah and his encounter with a "great fish". You know the story, and perhaps, like I, you had a hard time swallowing the bait – that he lived inside a whale for 3 days; you may have even been challenged by a non-believer about this "fable". But if you read the exact text, you can see that Jonah died inside the whale, descended into Sheol for 3 days, and was resurrected on the 3rd day, to be spit out, alive, on the shore. Just like a man to try to escape the will of God, making it hard for himself, and be "re-directed" by God Himself toward His perfect will. Just like Jesus to obey His Father’s will, and die, spend 3 days and nights in Sheol, and be resurrected – as promised.

Excerpts show how man can try to avoid the will of God, because of his own agenda, and run into problems as God re-directs him. It is tragic how many of us think that we can orchestrate our lives better than the Creator. Yeah, Jonah, you knew God well enough to know that those people you hated were going to accept your message and be saved. We, like you, are just smart enough to create solutions that so often conflict with the simplicity of the Word of God. Take any social issue of the day, and you will see that it is our pride, perhaps our lust, and definitely our arrogance that take us off the intended course. And it can be really difficult to turn things over to Him. I speak from lots of experience, of course, and it is a continued blessing to me, during the night especially, when, instead of worrying about what tomorrow may or may not bring that would change my problems, I can simply lie down and sleep peacefully, knowing that I did as much as I could in this day, and that somehow, He is glorified to take the reigns on the next day. One day, He will simply remind us all that my days were numbered, and what a blessing it is that we don’t know the number!

Have a great day in the Lord, Grace Harbor Saints! God has given you another day! Make it a masterpiece!
Ray Beeman

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