Good day my loves! So much has happened since we last caught up! March was rather interesting. I pray you all are safe and doing well during this time of isolation and quarantine. I am very much an introvert, so I enjoy alone time, but this is a lot! I am not really one to give out lots of hugs, but I actually wanted to hug a person and could not! I was just starting to break out of my shell a little and now I have to pause. I started co-facilitating a Bible study at my job, I went to a salsa dancing class and it was a very exhilarating moment for me(You guys should TOTALLY try it!), I went to some events and was just generally trying to be social and now we have to be socially distant! For those who love to interact, I can only imagine the struggle. While we have no idea how long this may last, we are in a perfect position to do things we have put off, work on developing ourselves as well as our relationships, and learn and grow in many areas as the Internet and books have given us that power. But how will life be different for us and those around us when we can finally come out? Let’s talk about someone that was isolated and had to make moves once he was released. Bible study time!!!

So, the character in the Bible I want to talk about is usually just talked about in Children’s Church. I was thinking about who I could use that was in isolation, like us, and I thought about Jonah. Everyone knows that Jonah was the guy that was swallowed by a giant fish. Jonah has a whole book to himself in the Bible for you to go reference. I’m gonna give you a brief synopsis to paint my picture. God spoke to Jonah saying “Get up and go to Nineveh to announce my judgement because of their wickedness.” Jonah was like “I’m ’bout to go somewhere, but not there!” Jonah got up and paid for a ticket to go to a place called Tarshish via boat. According to some articles I read, Tarshish was a mighty long way from Nineveh! Jonah boarded the boat headed far away from his assignment and suddenly God hurled a powerful storm in the seas.

The men on the boat started throwing off cargo to make it easier to manage with no luck. Jonah was at the bottom of the boat asleep! They knew something was up with that and told him he needed to pray to his God! He admitted that he was probably the reason for this storm and told them to throw him over. They didn’t want to, but immediately after they did, the seas were calmed. The men were in awe and they came to serve God. Even in our disobedience, we can still draw others to the Father! Well, when Jonah was thrown over, God arranged for a giant fish to swallow him. He was inside of a fish for 3 days and 3 nights. I wonder what he did with that time of isolation? The Bible says he prayed a prayer of thanksgiving and the Lord ordered the fish to spit him out on land, but did it take him that long to pray?

Once he was released, God asked Jonah to do the same thing again. This proves that there are some things that only you or I can do! People that only we can reach. I’m sure he could have gotten someone else without resistance, but this was a job for Jonah. Did I mention he was a whole Prophet? He finally went to Nineveh and all he said was “In 40 days from now, the town of Nineveh will be destroyed.” They immediately responded with fasting and surrender. That seemed insignificant, but it came from the person that was mandated to carry that message. God saw their response and changed His mind about the destruction. Jonah was BIG mad! He did not like the people from Nineveh and did not want them to be saved. To the point that he wanted to die because God saved them! He knew that when he delivered that message the loving-kindness of God would have mercy on them if they responded by making corrections to their way of life. He was selfish with his salvation and the mercy God gave him. Aren’t we like that sometimes?

God gave him an illustration of a plant that gave him shelter and allowed a worm to eat the stem for it to die. He was concerned about the plant that he did not produce and was not concerned about 120,000 people and animals that simply did not know any better. We are in a time of isolation and there are soooo many people out there that simply don’t know the “right” way. The church as a whole is doing an excellent job in showing the love of God right now with the help of technology, but this is a desperate time and when you are desperate, you will grasp anything. But, what about when we are out of isolation? How will we keep them involved? How will we make sure that they have a community of people to lead them in the right direction? Will we be able to rehabilitate those that were already weak in faith before they were taken away from the accountability of their church? Maybe this separation from our assemblies was to show us how to serve more than just those that go to church with us. We don’t have to save the world individually, but there are those we are assigned to impact in different capacities. Jonah did what he needed to do and it produced good fruit, but he had a massive attitude towards those he was called to lead to deliverance!

We do that as well, or maybe it’s just me that can identify some areas I can do better. It could be because we don’t feel like we will be received well, we may feel inadequate because of our past, we may feel like we are just a regular church member, or we just ignore the call on our lives because it cost too much. During this time, we don’t really have an excuse. We have no distractions, no social gatherings, we have probably watched everything on Netflix and Hulu, and we have nowhere to go but the grocery stores. We should come out better, in some capacity, than we were when we went in quarantine. We have an opportunity to grow and mature so that we can be better for ourselves and those around us. So, what are you gonna do when you get out of the belly of your home? Who’s deliverance is in the words you have been chosen to say? Just something to ponder during this #Alonetogether time!

I pray that during this time God gives us a hunger and thirst for Him. I pray that we have a passion like never before to grow and to advance the kingdom. I pray that we are discovering gifts, talents, and skills that we can use to help others. We will continue to trust that God is with us in this time of isolation and ask Him what He wants us to receive personally from this time. I thank Him for wisdom, strategy, and direction of what we need to do once released into our new norm. All things work together for the good of those who love Him, so there has to be glory after this. I pray that you and your families will continue to be well, safe, and healthy! While you are praying, please continue to pray for your communities and our world that God will heal our land as we humble ourselves and cry out to Him. Love you all to pieces!!

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