THE BENEFITS OF OVERCOMING JONAH’S KIND OF REPUTATION

   "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

James 4:10 (KJV) 

 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”, Paul’s advice to his son Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV) always reminds me to review what I am doing as a Christian. It’s is really a profound reality check to me as far as God’s will for my life is concerned. There are 3 important landmarks in this scripture that is:

(1) Fighting a good fight- which means that all of us Christians have a fight to fight, but it must be a good one, so It is very instructive of us to know what we choose to exert our energy and time on as people who are on assignment on this earth, some fights are worth your energy, while others are not. (2)Finish your course – There are many believers who have left their course unfinished because of societal pressure and the love for material possession. You and I must take cognizance of the fact that we all have our specific course to finish, not someone else’s course.

(3) Faith to keep – we must know that there is enough fighting against us to rob us of our faith as believers, so it will be helpful to always do a reality check on yourself by the help of the Holy Spirit so as to ascertain whether we are still keeping the faith. Satan knows very well that we have so much to benefit when we are able to keep our faith, so he will make sure that he fights us to the end. 

I cannot bring the curtain to a close on this series without us looking at some of the benefits of overcoming what I have termed as “JONAH’S KIND OF REPUTATION” which simply means doing things just merely because of what people say, not necessarily what God says to you. Let me walk you through some of the benefits as I take you back to the book of Jonah in the scriptures. The benefits of overcoming Jonah’s Kind of Reputation

·     It Ends the Chaos in Your Environment – One of the fundamental truth we must come to terms with is the fact that anytime we decide to obey God’s leadings for our lives irrespective of what people will say, it brings peace and ends the chaotic situation around us. Jonah’s decision that he should be thrown into the tempos sea brought calmness into the ship that he had boarded according to Jonah 1:1-17.

Some of the storm rocking against our boats is simply because we are running away from God; this storms does not only affect us but our loves ones, neighbors, colleagues etc. just like in the case of Jonah. I want to entreat you to do a soul such and make sure that any iota of rebellion against God’s leadings for your life is dealt with; once that is sorted out I can assure you the storms will cease.

·       A Turn Around in Your Fortunes – I can assure you, no matter how deep you have sank yourself in rebelling against God, He will surely bring peace and turn around your fortunes; God will restore you in every front; he will restore your body, soul and spirit. You will experience spiritual blessings, soulish blessing as well as material and bodily blessings.

When God decided to restore the fortunes of the children of Israel as a result of their repentance this was how the scripture described it “A Song of degrees. When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.

The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126: 1-6(KJV).

When Jonah decided to obey God in the midst of the chaos in the ship, the option available to him was crazy- he has to be thrown into the boisterous sea, but the good part of it is that the Lord provided a big fish that swallowed Jonah and kept him safely in the belly of the earth according to the account in Jonah 2:1-10.

Often the option available to us in our bid to follow God’s will sounds crazy and sometimes nonsensical but just like Jonah, God will provide the shark to keep us safe as we choose to go that way. I was recently elated to know that one of my high school mates that I had being praying for, for almost two decades had made an important decision to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and personal savoir.

What made the whole news encouraging was the fact that, this guy had a very lucrative business; he runs a drinking spot in one of the viable business districts of Accra, Ghana, yet he gladly gave up this business for the sake of his new found faith; and guess the response from his friends and loved ones?

You are making a big mistake, you are very foolish, you are crazy among other sensual retorts. But this high school  mate of mine had made up his mind to follow Jesus and I know he will face some tough time ahead but the Lord will provide a big relieve eventually just as he made big fish swallow Jonah in the midst of the boisterous seas.

I know that one of the reason why you find it difficult to thoroughly follow God’s will for your life is the economic mileage that you might lose, but I want you to know that God will give you more than that in return it is only a matter of time- Joel 2:25(KJV) “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.”

·         It will brings Salvation to others – One of the spiritual truth we continually don’t give heed to is the fact that, God will bring salvation to more people as we allow him to work through us. Remember the scripture says in 2 Corinthians_5:19(KJV) “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”

The latter part of this scripture clearly nails my point; the ministry of reconciliation has been given to us. When Jesus died, he resurrected and left to heaven, you and I, the called out ones became the body of Christ. So in the same vain ministry the avenue of God’s redemptive effort is through our sacrificial lives - Romans 12:1(KJV)  “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

When Jonah decided to obey God and was eventually released out of the belly of the fish according to Jonah 2:10 (KJV) “And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.” His eventual obedience led to the salvation of a whole city of over 120,000 souls according to the account in Jonah 3:1-10. I tell what!!  A whole nation or generation of people because you are running away from God’s will for your live.

As we end this journey be reminded that the benefits that you stand to get when you choose to obey God far outweighs the temporary benefits you are holding unto. Please know and I quote “God of all creation can use a storm, a fish, a worm, or a plant to preach, but He really likes to use a person to proclaim what is on His heart. Don’t run away from the call of God. He loves the lost far more than you do. He even cares about what happens to the cows in the country. Multitude die in sin with no chance to hear. Nations may perish because of a runaway revivalist. Get over your grudges and act like the God who calls you.”

God bless you for coming along with me on this journey. If you have any questions or comments you can leave it below, or you can also send me an email via- wisafawubo@gmail.com or send me a whatsup message on +233233868205. But watch out for a new series called “STAGES”