Provisions.

On Sunday morning, I was scheduled to teach. I was sort of dreading it all week, simply because I think the kids see too much of me...and I would get bored with myself if I had to listen to myself as much as they have to listen to me. I procrastinated as usual (see my previous post on procrastination) and didn't start working on it until later on in the week.

Not only do I get bored with myself, the lesson was on Jonah. And let me tell you, when I talk about Adam, Jonah, Noah, Moses, Abraham, David...take your pick of the big guys...it is only a matter of seconds before a kid yells out "I've heard this story before!" I always encourage them, "Listen, God can show you something new each time!" but I have to admit even I was sick of hearing the Jonah story.

I opened my Bible to prepare and began reading. And there it was. Something God has shown me before (it was underlined), but I had forgotten. In chapter 1 verse 17 it says, "But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights." The reality of the situation is that Jonah would have died if the fish wouldn't have swallowed him.

I am not only amazed by the love God showed for Jonah even in his disobedience, but how He chose to provide for him everything he needed at that time. So often I take for granted God's daily provisions in my life, especially if they don't look the way I think they should. In fact, I even get frustrated by "detours" or circumstances in my life that are most likely the result of my own disobedience in the first place. What a loving God I serve, who is willing to forgive me and set me back on the path He intended for me to take.

All morning when the kids would have a choice whether they were going to obey what I was telling them to do, I would say, "Are you going to Tarshish or are you going to Nineveh?" They would sigh and say "Nineveh". Yeah, sometimes it's difficult to obey, but knowing the God I serve loves me and has a plan for my life makes it easier.