SIGN OF JONAH... Sunday

Devotional for 1/25/15    (rewritten from a post on 8/4/13)

We are always looking for a sign.   We look for signs of the things to come, whether that be about small things such as predicting the weather, or about major things like what might happen in our lives.  There is an old adage about the color of the sky at sunset and sunrise:  "Red sky at night, sailor's delight.  Red sky at morning, sailor take warning."  Those are some signs people have used to predict the weather for centuries.  Some people look for signs about their own future, like in horoscopes and fortune telling.  We are seldom content to just live in the present.  Sometimes we are just looking for signs to prove something is real, or to show us we are on the right track.  We ask God to give us a sign so that we might know for sure.  We often are not content to just let God know and do what is right.  We have to know and understand everything for ourselves.  We need to make plans and get things ready you know - we need a sign!

Matthew 16:1-4 (ERV)  The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus. They wanted to test Jesus. So they asked Jesus to show them a miracle to prove that he was from God. Jesus answered, "When you people see the sunset, you know what the weather will be. If the sky is red, then you say we will have good weather. And in the morning you watch the sunrise. If the sky is dark and red, then you say that it will be a rainy day. These things are signs of the weather. You see these signs in the sky and you know what they mean. In the same way, you see the things that are happening now. These things are also signs. But you don't know the meaning of these signs. Evil and sinful people are the kind of people that want a miracle for a sign (proof). But those people will have no sign--only the sign of Jonah." Then Jesus left that place and went away.  

The sign of Jonah - he was inside the big fish for 3 days before being "resurrected" from it's belly.  It shows us that even if we run away, God is in control and will put us where we need to be.  It reminds us that when we pray for deliverance, God will deliver.  But most importantly, it was a foreshadowing of Jesus being in the grave three days before rising from the dead, earning our salvation for us.  That is all we really need to know - that God is in control of what happens to us and has saved us.  That is the only sign that is absolutely necessary.  We need to learn to be content knowing that God is in control, not us, and that we need no further signs.  Actually, that is a comforting thought.  We don't need to be the ones in control - God already is!  If only we can remember that when we desire a sign.  Remember the sign of Jonah!

 Jonah 2:1-2  From inside the fish Jonah prayed... "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry." 

AMEN!

written by Jan Andersen