January 2010

With the start of a new year, we need to examine our spiritual lives and see if we’re on track. Hunting season is behind many of us and fishing seems to be the next sport for many outdoors people. When I reflect on the Holy Bible, the first story about fish that comes to mind is that of Jonah. There was a HUGE fish in his life! I am going to share a passage from Jonah.

Jonah 1:1-16 (NIV) 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.

4. Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”  7. Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

8. So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

9. He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

10. This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) 11. The sea was getting rougher and rougher, so they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

12. “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come down upon you.”

13. Instead the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14. Then they cried unto the Lord, “O Lord, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O Lord, have done as you pleased.” 15. Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calmed. 16. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.

The sailors were innocent people doing their jobs. The only thing “wrong” was that they followed their own gods and didn’t know the main God. They thought they might make a few extra dollars by taking Jonah to Tarshish, so they allowed him to join them. It’s much the same as we do when we allow ourselves to be sucked in by a moocher of some kind, or somebody who seems to take advantage of us in some way. It could be somebody around the house who isn’t pulling his/her share of the household or even something that simply takes your mind off God. The Jonahs come along, and we get involved in whatever they are doing and lose track of God. They take our focus away from God. My Jonah was giving in to the idea that my arm would never be right again. I hadn’t trusted God to heal me and was really letting my arm/elbow problems cause me grief and depression.

When I was a teenager, I had an opportunity to learn how the farming community lives. I was asked to help pick tobacco. Every teen needs this experience once in their lives because it shows a new appreciation for “having it made”. Those folks work hard for little money! After I had been there for a day, I was told about suckering the tobacco plant. A sucker is a useless growth that takes life and energy away. The only way to save the life of that plant is to remove that sucker. The Jonahs in our lives are much like the suckers on a plant. They drain the life out of us and can easily cause us to lose focus on what matters most- Jesus. My sucker was my elbow. It was keeping me from archery, and I know that God wants me to use archery as a ministry. I have already spoken it, and Satan heard it. He thought that he was going to lead me astray, but that is no longer because I plucked that sucker and tossed it in the trash!

It is my challenge to you. Figure out who or what is the Jonah in your life. If you have a Jonah that is harming your relationship with God, you need to get rid of it now. This is the best time to do it because the New Year has arrived and a fresh beginning is here. Pluck the sucker that’s drawing you away from God and draining you spiritually and get renewed. There’s no time like the present!

Godspeed in 2010!

Love in Christ,

Kim (canam) Fox