"I will look again toward Thy holy temple. "
Jonah 2:4
THE HOUND OF HEAVEN
Read It: Jonah 2:1-10
This is quite a situation here with Jonah. The wind, the sea, and the fish all obeyed God. But we've still got problems with the preacher. Jonah didn't start rebounding until he got swallowed. Some of us are not going to get right with God until we are swallowed either-until God sends us circumstances so adverse, so cataclysmic that running to God is the only thing left. Remember, Jonah could have repented anywhere along the line, but it took this incredible circumstance to get his attention. He prayed from the stomach of the fish. I guess so. Chapter 2 is the beginning of Jonah's rebound. It's the start of his turnaround around where he looks up after missing the shot and decides to get back in the game. Jonah prays a wonderful prayer: "Lord, I'm in this fish, but You threw me overboard. Those sailors were doing what You wanted done. You are absolutely sovereign. Everything is under Your control, so I know this is You. I didn't think of it then, but I know it now." Ever been in the pit? The pit is not a bad place to be if it gets you back in the will of God. It's a bad place to be, but if it took your going to the pit to get you back on the mountaintop, thank God for the pit.
God didn't move until Jonah remembered. God didn't move until Jonah confessed. God didn't move until Jonah got right. Many of us want God to move before we've moved. We want God to act before we act. Jonah acted, and God responded. He commanded the fish, and it vomited ited Jonah onto dry land, whereupon he asked the way to Nineveh. Sometimes we don't get it right until the third marriage because of our rebellion. Sometimes in our rebellion we don't get it right until we're fifty. Sometimes we don't overcome that addiction until later, although it could have been overcome sooner. Sometimes we have to hit rock bottom. But whatever it takes to bring us back, God will do it. He's the "Hound of Heaven" who pursues us until we surrender. Think About It You can go to Nineveh yourself, or God can take you there. It will be a wet ride if God has to take you, but that's what rebellion does. It's easier to obey the first time.
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