The Prodigals

People often say, “Why doesn’t God speak to me?” To which I answer, “He speaks to you all the time, but you won’t slow down long enough to listen.” The loudness of life and the constant pressure to get things done, to meet our goals, and to cross off items on our to-do list conspires to keep us from hearing the still, small voice of the Lord. But God knows how to speak to us and to get our attention-we just have to learn how to listen.

God will use desperate measures when necessary to reach a prodigal. I can imagine very few things worse than Jonah being in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights. But it is better to be in the fish and talking to God than on dry land boasting about your big plans. It’s a good thing to be desperate if desperation turns your heart to the Lord. You pray inside the great fish because if God doesn’t do something, you will die there.

You already know you can get into trouble anywhere. An earthquake can strike, a tornado can come, a car can veer off the road, and catastrophe can strike at any moment. You can be singing a tune one moment and have a stroke the next. I did, and it happens to people every day. No one is immune to trouble, and there is nowhere on earth where you are truly safe from heartbreak, sadness, disease, danger and death.

Even after Jonah got right with God, he’s still inside the fish. He’d never get out on his own. So God works an amazing deliverance. Look at verse 10 of Jonah 2:

“And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.”

The same Lord who appointed the fish to catch him now tells the fish to let him go. I checked out the Hebrew word translated “vomit” and it means vomit. That’s a very good translation. One moment he’s wedged in the belly of the fish, the next he’s flying through the air, and the next he lands on the shore, covered with shrimp cocktail. All of it meant to teach him and us that salvation is of the Lord and Him only.

So remember even the Prodigals are being chased by the Lord. No matter where they are, God knows. So trust Him. Put them in God's hands and let Him do the work that you can't do. It may get as deep as the belly of a great fish and they be covered with a stench you can hardly stand, but God can set their feet on dry ground.