Going To Nineveh

So I have a bunch of friends I've made in the last year who just get it. You know - the ones that just understand your situation without you yourself getting it. 

The other day my friend said to me "you're Jonah right now."

Jonah. Jonah?

Those of you with a strong or weak background in Bible stories will know Jonah - the dude that basically refused to do God's work saying there was no point in him going to Nineveh, so instead wanted to sail to the other side of the world - far away from Nineveh. Well the big man upstairs had different plans, didn't He?

Jonah ends up in the belly of a whale for three days and three nights after a storm that leads the captain and crew of the boat he's on to realise that Jonah's God wants him off the boat. Then, eventually coming around to God's plans for him, he is washed up onto land - conveniently close to Nineveh.

"Righto, God. Let's go."

It is not without fear and trepidation that Jonah goes. But he has enough faith in God and enough trust that he goes not knowing what he will face. He gets the grumps sometimes. But this walk with God and for God is a progressional thing for him - and it's just the same with each individual on this earth.

Now, I didn't exactly have the storm and whale experience (or maybe I did, on reflection). But I could be happily and frivolously enjoying life in the UK right now - still pursuing my faith in my own way. But what I'm learning is this: my God? He's a God of action. He is so certain that the way in which I should grow my faith is to put it to practice. 

See the way this faith works is entirely based on relationship. Firstly it is this: a relationship with God. We learn His true character - His love. It is individual and all-consuming. As 2 Corinthians 3:18 provides, by beholding we become changed. This statement is true in all circumstances - religious or not. What we spend time experiencing, regarding, and who we spend our time with naturally affects how we turn out - positively or negatively. Relationship and influence is concentric and it starts with our personal relationship with God. 

But as relationship goes, and as we become changed by His character's influence in us, this means that a domino effect must start to arise - it is entirely natural. You get to a point that the goodness you're receiving from the author of your soul is far too precious not to share with others. And so with this, a ministry is brought to light for you to pursue and be involved in. It mightn't be a big scale thing whereby you lead out in something. It may just be that your company, your hospitality and your loving nature allows you to be a friend and a support for your next door neighbour, your family member who is yet to know God, or your colleague at work. There is a simplicity to the gospel - it is found in John 12:32. It is that if we uphold Christ and His character in us, then naturally others will be drawn to the same personal heart-overhaul that we continue to experience daily. So we must go to Nineveh.

So here I am in Australia. A new degree to complete, and new faces to meet. Same city as before, but a whole new set of lenses through which to view the hearts of the people that I walk past daily. The empathy levels are sky-rocketing and I am so profoundly grateful that I have a chance to share my testimony and the good news. It's gonna be weird, new and a whole lot of "God, why?" This does not deter me, however, from the fact that my God is a God of action, of being generous with the hope that He has instilled in my heart. 

Are you in the belly of a whale right now? Are you where you need to be to serve God? It may be a in a locational sense - the wrong place physically. It may be a spiritual sense, or maybe that you're situating yourself in situations that don't allow God's plan to flourish. If you're in the belly of a whale right now, you'll feel it. You'll feel uncomfortable. A sense of guilt, maybe. More so, you will feel the silence in your spiritual life that is awakened by the combining of personal time with God and sharing the opportunity for personal time with God with others. If this is you, then it's time to say "Hey God, you know what? I'm sorry. Man! I know you have the protection of me, your servant, in mind - wherever you call me to go. What does it profit me if I gain what I want in this world but lose my soul - lose my opportunity to spend forever in your beautiful company? I will go where you lead from here on out."

Go to Nineveh. And if you're not sure of where your Nineveh is, maybe you just need to say to the author of your soul: "lead the way, Big Man."