Running God (day 4 of 4--facebook series)

Jonah, Day 4: Running God. Some people run FROM God, some run INTO God, others run WITH God. Sadly, some people think they can RUN God. Henri Nouiwen once wrote, "it is easier to be God than to love God." Jonah, did not like the way God chose to work in the lives of the people in Nineveh. Jonah thought God was not hard enough on the people's sin. Jonah thought he knew a better way of dealing with people than God did. There have been times in my life when I have tried to RUN God, even BE God. I have thought at times God was not really doing His job very well. I have had "due cause" to say to God, "GET 'EM BIG TIME!" only to have this prayer fall on heaven's deaf ears. My cheap advice for you today is that God knows what He is doing. Try to trust God a little more than you do. God is able to deal with the silent pain of your life-God has the final vote, you don't. Do not try and run God, its a waste of time and energy. If this posting helps you at all, keep reading this week. And, thanks for all the notes back, I read every one!

Running with God (Day 3 of 4--facebook series)

Jonah Day 3: Running WITH God. You can run FROM God successfully for a while but that will result in you running INTO God (that' s called prayer). Jonah 3 can be described as running WITH God. Jonah was given a second chance to run WITH God. I believe in a God of second chances-look at the lives of Jacob, Abraham, Moses, David, Mary, Peter, Paul, John-Mark. We run WITH God, in faith, because, "it is impossible to please God without faith..God rewards those who sincerely seek him" (Heb.11.6). In Jonah 3 God gave his servant the exact same order He gave in Jonah 1. My observation: God's second chances often involve us doing what God always intended for us to do. ForJonah, it was delivering a hard sermon to a rebellious people. If you are having a hard time WITH God, it may be that God has already spoken to you and is waiting on YOU! When you do what God has already asked of you, the heavens may open and you may get your next assaignment from God or merely hear, "well done,friend!"