God of the Second Wind Heroes of Faith Jonah's Story (Part 3)

Wow, we are on part three now of the series “God of the Second Wind.” We have looked at the stories of Rahab and Ruth, and now we are going to be looking at Jonah’s life. Every time I read through the book of Jonah God always shows me something new; I am excited to write and share with my readers the lessons we can learn from Jonah. In my previous post, we looked at Ruth’s life seeing how God choose Ruth by giving her a second chance when she married into the family of Naomi this was the beginning then after she moves back with Naomi to Israel God blesses Ruth with favor and protection under Boaz. Ruth moves in the obedience of what Naomi tells her to do by going and laying at the feet of Boaz telling us that to experience God’s “Second Wind” in our lives we must act in doing works of faith because faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26). The book of Ruth ends with Chapter 4 revealing God’s “Second Wind” by having Ruth marry Boaz and being a part of the family line that brings forth King David and Jesus Christ. Now let’s feel and experience the refreshment from God’s “Second Wind” in Jonah’s life.

Jonah is also a short book like Ruth only four chapters long, but in these four chapters right from the beginning to the ending verses we see God being the “God of the Second Wind.” The first three verses show that the wind is already blowing. Jonah 1:1-3 NLT says “The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” 3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.” 1. God does not want us to be disobedient to His calling and actions He wants us to do, but if we choose the opposite direction, then God will use the opposite direction to be the direction that God uses to bring His “Second Wind” of Grace and Mercy into our lives. In verse four we see God is already moving with His wind because this violent wind that occurs while they are on the sea puts Jonah in a position to be carried away by God’s “Second Wind.” The storm comes the sailors on the ship are praying to their gods to deliver them, but they realize they are not answering them so they call for Jonah and tell him to pray to his God to see if He will deliver them. After the sailors had cast lots, it is discovered that Jonah is the guilty party that caused this storm. Verse twelve tells us something interesting it says “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault” (Jonah 1:12 NLT).  Jonah admits to his fault he knows that his disobedience has caused this storm and put these sailors lives and his life in danger, but because he confessed his sin God’s Grace enters in and saves Jonah and the lives of the sailors. 2. When a person confesses their sins to Christ, it gives access to the power of Grace to operate in that person’s life and in lives of others around that person. Because of Jonah’s confession and the power, the Lord displayed it made the sailors realize that they needed to serve the God of Israel, and that is what happened. Verse sixteen says “16 The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.” Verse seventeen displays Grace in action it says “17 Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.” “This is obvious a miracle, the precise details of which are not stated. We do not know if the fish was a specially created one or a modified whale; nor do we know how Jonah breathed for 72 hours” (Hayford, 2013, p.1112) this action of grace is a miracle and gift from God into Jonah’s life. God took care of Jonah because God loved Jonah, He saw the potential in Jonah, and God wanted Jonah to have a second chance. 3. Grace is a miracle and a gift. Grace happens because God wants a relationship with you and because He wants you to fulfill your potential. Wow, grace at work let’s continue to see how it flows into Chapter two.

Chapter two opens with the prayer Jonah prays while in the belly of the fish, and it reveals to the reader the epochal of God’s Grace at work. Jonah 2:1-2 NLT Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. 2 He said, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!” Jonah prays to the Lord and in his great trouble, the Lord answered him from the land of the dead He heard Jonah’s prayer. What a picture of Grace! These words show that no matter where you are you can pray, and God hears your words. This prayer by Jonah has the essence of a prayer of thanksgiving. Jonah is thanking the Lord for protecting him from drowning (Life Application Study Bible, 2004, p.1460). The reader knows this because as you read the rest of the chapter Jonah gives detail information on his experience in the sea, and from it the reader can see that Jonah could have easily drowned. Verse 4, 6, and 7 tell us something “4 Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’ 6 I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death! 7 As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. I find Jonah’s words interesting because His words are expressing that he knew about the power of God’s Grace. He knew it was for him, and he reached out for it and received it. He was not ashamed to grab hold of what he knew was his, but some Christians don’t immediately grab or receive God’s Grace as fast as Jonah did. No, instead these Christians feel they need to earn His Grace some way or mope and complain about their sin for a certain amount of time before asking God for forgiveness and receiving His grace. I know because I am one of those Christians. Christian as your brother in the Lord I warn you dearly don’t fall into that trap because it starts to produce a working mentality inside your mind. You will start to have a work mentality in your Christian walk with God instead of a Grace mindset which is what our Christian walk is founded on. I know because I have lived that way for many years, but God has revealed to me that Grace is the way to have a relationship with Him, and not by works. Verses nine, and ten says “9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone. 10 Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.” After experiencing God’s Grace inside the fish, the Lord orders the fish to spit him out, and gives Jonah “His Second Wind.” 4. An encounter with Grace happens to you so that you know that a second chance a fresh start is always there for you!

I have decided to break up this blog about Jonah into two parts because there is so much good information to share with you that I don’t want to cheat you out of all the information I will give you for chapters three and four. Stay tune part two is next! Thank you all for checking out my blog and following it! If you would like to meet God’s Grace that I have been writing about that Jonah experienced, then pray Jesus I ask you to come into my life I repent of my sins of my failures to you. Thank you for your Grace and giving me a fresh second wind I receive and live for you now in Jesus name we pray amen! If you said that prayer for the first time you are now a Christian and I celebrate with you! Now go start reading your Bible I recommend you start with Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John to know Jesus more than go from there, stay connected with other Christians, and find a church where you can learn and serve those around you.

Godspeed,

Robbie

References

Hayford, J. W. (2013). New Spirit Filled Life Bible. Thomas Nelson.

Life Application Study Bible. (2004). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.