Fish and Ships: Learning from a Jerk

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.  You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

“If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.”

“If only you, God, would slay the wicked “If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” - Psalm 139

Am I known by God? God didn’t just choose anyone … He chose Jonah. Why Jonah? God knew what this mission would entail and He knew what kind of a person it would require. Not only did God know the mission, but He knew the missionary. God desired to not only use Jonah for great means, but also seeks to teach Jonah something crucially important for his own spiritual development through the experience. God knows us fully and completely, seeing both our beginning and our end with complete clarity.

Does God have a plan and a purpose for my life? Culturally, there is no ultimate meaning in life; we determine the course of our lives; in essence, we are the ones who give meaning to our existence. God does have a specific plan for our lives and we were created according to that purpose. Not only did God know who we would become, but He ordained the substance of our lives. Our role is not to determine the course of our lives, but to discern how God is leading us on the path He has set before us.

Each one of us has an ultimate purpose for our lives – the Westminster Cathechism puts it this way “man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever”. It’s important to recognize that the day to day occurrences in our lives are also a part of God’s plan. We’ve got to seize these moments and capitalize on the opportunities presented to us. Our response to both God’s complete knowledge of us and His purpose and plan for our lives should be one of awe.

Have I been obedient to the plan and purpose, the call of God upon my life? We can all likely think of times when we have not been obedient to the call of God upon our lives. Not only do we all have a Nineveh, we also all have a Tarshish – a place where we aim to flee from the call of God upon our lives. We have a tendency to run and hide when we’ve moved in opposition to the call of God upon our lives. What is the Tarshish in my life? To where do I flee the presence of the Lord?

We all have “places” we run when we are being disobedient to God’s call. Regardless of where we go, we cannot escape the presence of the Lord and, as long as He’s present, so too will His call be present. Until we respond to His call, we may find ourselves living it up in Tarshish, but we’ll find ourselves bereft of any true satisfaction in life because in our disobedience we will fail to accomplish our chief end – to glorify God.

Who are the Ninevites in my life? While the hatred expressed in Psalm 139 may have been justified, as was the hatred Jonah felt for Nineveh, God shows us a different way in the book of Jonah. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:43-45). As followers of Jesus, we must be those who extend grace to those who do not deserve it, just as our Heavenly Father extended grace to us when we were not deserving of it.

Have I experienced God’s salvation firsthand? It will remain very difficult for us to extend grace to our enemies without having first received it from God. The grace we have received is this – that our sins can be forgiven, our created purpose restored, new and eternal life experienced, all by simply believing in Jesus Christ, confessing our sin and disobedience and trusting in Him for salvation. It’s a beautiful gift that we do not deserve, but one given to us nonetheless. Have you experienced this firsthand?

Has my character and attitude been refined by the salvation I have received? Having been spared in an amazing way, Jonah was unable to extend that same grace to the people of Nineveh. Salvation is an ongoing process of spiritual refinement; it is a way everlasting. We must be willing to open our lives – even the dark and decrepit places – to the Spirit of God, asking that He make us holy and pleasing in the sight of God. True repentance extends far beyond the moment of crisis.

Can we say that our repentance is genuine, that we have truly accepted the grace shown by God through Jesus Christ and have allowed it to shape and refine our character and attitudes? When it comes to salvation, some of us want the fish without the plant, worm and wind. We want salvation without sanctification – eternal life without life change. Because God knows us and because He has ordained the days of our lives, He knows what is best for us – sometimes a little painful refinement produces an incredible result.

A Prayer “God, you know me through and through and I know that you have a purpose for my life. I’ve fallen short in terms of obedience to that purpose, running off to the Tarshish of my own desires and hating the Ninevites of my life – denying them the grace I’ve received. I need your salvation, for it belongs to no one but you. Would you forgive me and save me, refining me today for better use in your Kingdom.”