I want to tell you a story...

What's your story?

What story is God telling through you?

Are you telling the story, or is God........?


There are several stories in the bible that are very similar.  We often use them to draw comparisons and make meaning of our own lives... And then there are some stories in the bible that stand out.  They just seem out of place, or seem to have a meaning all to themselves.  The story of Jonah is one of these.

The story of Jonah has always been one of my favorites... you see... I am Jonah, but I will come back to that in a moment.  The story of Jonah has always seemed to me to be unique.  In all of the bible stories, it just didn't seem to be like any other story. I've heard many people argue about if its real, or just a parable; is it just an elaborate story, to scare us into following God, is it a metaphor that paints a picture that is too elaborate to be real?  Does it matter?  For the record, I believe that this story is real, I believe that Jonah spent three days inside of a giant fish, I believe that Jonah defied God and spoke to God with contempt in his voice.  I also believe, the story of Jonah can be an amazing metaphor... a story that looks just like the life I have chosen to live...

News flash... there is another story in the bible that begins just like the story of Jonah... intrigued?

Lets start with Jonah, well actually, lets start with me...  For years I have spoken of the story of Jonah with pride.  I tell people on a regular basis that the story of Jonah is my story.  I've taught classes at church looking at the story of Jonah, and I've told them of my nights that I have spent in the belly f the whale, as if God had placed me in there and I was sorry for not going his way, for not telling His story.  The truth is, I'm more like Jonah than I realized.

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Jonah Flees From the Lord

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ² “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

³ But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

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 I can't tell you how many times that God has sent me...  from simple little tasks of asking me to volunteer, to just asking me to leave my comfort zone and minister to someone who smells, or looks dirty.  Other times he has called me to greater things: trips, ministries, professional callings... And I have looked God in the face with a look of, "seriously, you have got to be kidding."  I have defiantly turned and walked the other direction. Just like Jonah, I have found myself in the belly of the whale. I have spent more nights in the belly of the whale than I have preaching the word.  In the past, when I would tell the story, I would tell it with remorse... I would tell people that, "I am stuck in the belly of the whale, waiting on God to save me."  A LIE.  A lie to myself, a lie to those around me, a lie to God... You see, I am just like Jonah... defiant.  I chose the belly of the whale.  Like a child throwing a tantrum I could sit in my misery and tell God, "I'll show you.  I will sit here in this chaos, and you can't make me."  It was my will, not his.  Eventually like our hero, I would pray for help, I would beg for forgiveness and God would deliver me...

Have you ever imagined what it looked like when Jonah got to Nineveh?  I really can't imagine that he ran up and down the streets, praising God with joy and glad tidings.  I imagine this scene from a Monty Python movie of a man in rags, head down, dragging his feet... muttering under his breath, "praise God, repent and be saved."  It was God that saved Nineveh, not Jonah... and then Jonah went up on a hill and pouted... I TOLD YOU SO... that was his attitude towards God. Jonah had the nerve to look at God and say... I knew what you were going to do, I didn't want to do it, you made me do it, and I knew this was going to happen...  GOD JUST SAVED AN ENTIRE CITY! and Jonah is blaming God because its not what Jonah wanted...

This is the story I have chosen to live...Its not the story that God is telling, its the story that I am acting out... I am the director, producer and main character, God is just an actor that I have allowed into my drama...  Am I really that arrogant? I didn't even write my own story, I stole one of God's and claimed it as my own... What would my life look like if I allowed God to tell my story... no, that's not right either... what would my life look like if I allowed God to tell HIS story...

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The Calling of Abraham
Genesis 12:1 
1Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; 2And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;…

Hebrews 11:8
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

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Two men called by God.  One, looked for a better path, chose his will over God's; the other, went home packed all his belongings, gathered his family and went...

What story is God telling in your life?