The Sovereignty of God

By Jasmine Britto, Kerala, India

Part 8 

Jonah 3:1-2

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.

Jonah had run away from God but was given a second chance to participate in God’s work. You may feel as though you are disqualified from serving God because of your past mistakes. But serving God is not an earned position. No one qualifies for God’s service, but God still asks us to carry out his work. Thankfully we serve a God of a second chances. God is a God of new morning mercies.

God said to Jonah, ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and deliver the message I give you’. It is the message from the Lord, the word of God, that only has the power to save people. None of our words or any of our strategies have that kind of power.

Jonah 3:2” Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

Instead of telling Jonah to go and cry out against Nineveh, this time He simply tells Jonah to go there and wait for further instructions. The story of Jonah demonstrates why many times God reveals his plan to us only one step at a time without telling us more.

When God told Jonah what he should say to the Ninevites, Jonah rejected the call. God often only tells us what we can handle at the time. Sometimes we look for God to give us the whole plan, laid out in front of us, before we can be expected to start obeying him. But God is looking for us to be obedient to the one step which He has already unveiled. As we move forward in obedience, He keeps opening the next steps and He makes our paths straight.

Are you waiting for a second chance?

Are you waiting for God to reveal the entire plan of your future before you start trusting and obeying him?

Prayer focus

Today let’s pray and decide to trust God and take the steps he is leading us toward, even though we don’t know the entire blueprint.