Do you believe God? - 2 Lessons From Jonah

A couple of great lessons from Jonah:

Jonah 3:1
"Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time..."

Jonah was, like us, rebellious. He flat out refused to do what God called him to do. If we are honest with ourselves we will admit that we do not always do what God tells us to do. We all have our Ninevehs. An obvious lesson from Jonah is that God will discipline us for being rebellious. Hebrews 12:5-6 tells us this saying, “And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."

But notice the great message of Jonah 3:1, “the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time.” God is a God of second chances. No matter how much we blow it, God will give us another chance. Scripture is filled with this truth.

Another great lesson from Jonah chapter 3 is that prayer and fasting work when offered from a repentant heart and in faith. The message Jonah was to give Nineveh was not good news. Nineveh was to be overthrown. But watch what happened.

Jonah 3:5-9
“And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish."

Take careful note of what verse 5 says and what it does not say. It does not say the people believed in God. It says they believed God. What happens when they believed God?

Jonah 3:10
“When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.”

Friend do you believe God? It is not enough to simply say we believe in God. James 2:19 reaffirms this saying that “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

We must believe God and His Word. All of it; even the parts we don’t like. Then we must live out our lives in faith.

I don’t know where you are today with God. But I know this; if you will cry out to Him with a heart of repentance He will answer you. He will forgive and restore you. This is why Jesus came, died, and was resurrected. It’s not too late.