Staying quiet, even when its hard!

I woke up this morning feeling a bit heavy, not weight physically but spiritually. Some paths that are laid before my family are very interesting. The door was cracked and we are waiting further instructions before we walk in. However for me this is always the rough moment, I know if this is God's will it will be awesome. Everyone may not agree but honestly that doesn't even matter in this season of our lives.

We can make all the plans we want, we can decide what path we are going to take, we can decide that something was designed just for us. That's the problem, we are deciding these things and God continues to put up road block after road block and we continue to go around the warnings, then we have the nerve to be mad or hurt because its not turning out the way we want it to.

God's word says:
Jeremiah 29:11

New International Version (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

So if we know this, then why do we get all irritated when "our"plan doesn't work. Five years ago, I could give you a rundown of where I would be today. Well, I'm not any of the places I thought I would be, but I am happy. I am fulfilled. In the quiet moments I have learned to have, I have been clear and concise instruction on how to just follow His path for me and believe it or not, He is not done by a long shot with me or my family. God is showing up and showing out.

For so longed I ran the other direction from what was God sent because it was not on my list for "my" life plan. My life plan is a joke, don't get me wrong we have visions and goals for our family but no plan is set in stone because we have learned all to well that God will divert us directly into the storm and wait to see how we respond.

In church we are studying Job, a book that really breaks down the fall of a "faithful man", a man that was not know to find fault with God, a rich man both financially and spiritually. However when he fell, he fell hard. He began to place God in the witness chair and wanted to lay out his case before the thrown. Finally at the height of the storm, God finally answered back. He basically told Job, "Do you have any idea who I am?"

I believe that is true for alot of us. We tend to think that in the storm we have to go in survival mode and begin to tear apart our life to see where we went wrong. Even if we get close to an answer it will never be the complete finality of our situation. God can take our storm and quiet it in the flash of a moment. We are just to busy fighting the storm instead of quietly riding it out. When a ship is in a storm, the crew will place the ship in the direction of the storm because trying to turn around and divert the other way will tear the ship apart, they just buckle down and ride it out. We should be as the sailors and learn that sometimes its too late to turn back and we must just ride out the storm, listen for the seas to stop raging and the waves to stop overtaking us.

It was much like that with Jonah, God sent a storm to the waters nearing the boat Jonah was on. This is in contrast to Job because Jonah had placed himself in this situation and instead of being truly honest with those he got on the boat with from the beginning, he just allowed the storm to rage until he was confronted. This is when you need to get Jonah off your boat:



Getting Jonah Off The Boat


Jonah 1:1-17

Background: Jonah on board this ship is very symbolic of how we can allow things to get into our lives that don’t need to be there. It could be a sin, it could be harboring a bad feeling toward someone, it could be a wrong relationship, it could be allowing something in our lives that keeps us from moving forward with God. Here are some lessons on getting Jonah out of your boat.

Don’t let him board in the first place—v.3 these men didn’t realize who was getting on their ship. All the trouble that they were about to face could have been avoiding by not letting Jonah on board in the first place. Prevention is better than cure. So many times we allow people into our lives or things into our lives before we fully know if the Lord is involved in them coming into our lives.

Realize why the storms are in your life—v.10—these men did a personal examination of what was going wrong. They cried out to their Gods, then they confronted Jonah to see if he was the cause of their storm. Too many times people just keep riding through storms when they need to get rid of a Jonah. You will not have that perfect peace until those things that need to be removed are removed.

Don’t get rid of the wrong things—v.5 When we try to fix our problems and situations, we end up throwing out all the wrong things. I don’t know all they lost in their efforts here, but I do know this: Jonah was their problem, not the things they threw overboard.

Don’t work to keep Jonah in your life—v13 It is amazing even after they discovered that Jonah was the problem, they worked hard to keep him aboard. If God tells you to get rid of something, get rid of it. You can do a million other things, but until you obey the voice of the Lord, there is no peace, there is no end to the storm.

When you get rid of your Jonah, your life will immediately get back on course. v.15—we find out an amazing thing here, as soon as they threw Jonah overboard, the sea calmed. It is true today, that as soon as you surrender it over to the Lord, your sea will calm.Today, throw Jonah overboard. An old hurt, a bad habit, a wrong relationship, even a wrong or negative attitude, get it out of your life today, so you can have the peace of God in your life anew.