Handling HARD Assignments
One of the hardest things to understand as believers is that God loves people…even BAD people…long before they acknowledge or love Him! One of the true signs of maturity in a Christian is the ability to share God’s love with people that may seem unworthy of hearing about it.
In the powerful book of Jonah, we learn some hard life lessons about handling hard assignments. In the first chapter, we see the prophet receive an invitation to share God’s message of repentance and hope with an evil group of people called the Ninevites. Instead of running towards this assignment Jonah runs away from it! Why?
Nineveh was known for its violence and cruelty. Perhaps Jonah was acting out of FEAR or SELF-RIGHTOUESNESS…but running away and boarding a ship sailing the opposite direction from where God asked him to go was not what you’d expect from a prophet. God sent a storm to get his attention, and the sailors on the ship were also impacted by this storm.
Hard Assignment Key #1: The storm was sent to get Jonah’s attention, but also to impact the other sailors on the ship. Your storms will always impact others if you’re truly called according to God’s purposes.
With the storm raging, the sailors acted with wisdom and compassion while Jonah stayed staunchly in his rebellion and disobedience. He explained he’d rather be thrown into the dark sea than do what the Lord had asked.
Hard Assignment Key #2: We may find that ungodly people, at times, make better choices than godly people. In hard and stressful times, Christians should be the calmest and most understanding…but are we?
When the sailors threw Jonah overboard, the storm stopped and God protected Jonah from drowning by sending a giant fish to swallow him. As the sailors looked on, they worshipped from the deck of the ship and made vows to the living God.
Hard Assignment Key #3: Your assignment is never meant to impact just one set of people; there are layers of people who are affected by your willingness to obey.
While inside the whale Jonah confesses and decides to do as God has asked. He makes a vow to the Lord from inside the whale by offering thanksgiving, promising to do what God asked, and acknowledging who God is.
Hard Assignment Key #4: When faced with a hard assignment, the best strategy is like Jonah’s vow to God: THANK YOU…I PROMISE…YOU ARE!
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