Ordinary Time

Pause

Repent. It’s a word that can challenge us, but simply put, it means to turn.

Sometimes we turn toward things and other times we turn away.

In the next few minutes, settle your heart, mind, and soul and turn toward God.

Listen

Then the men were terrified and said to him, “What have you done?” (The men knew that Jonah was fleeing from the Lord, because he had told them.)

They said to him, “What will we do about you so that the sea will become calm around us?” (The sea was continuing to rage.)

He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea! Then the sea will become calm around you. I know it’s my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

Jonah 1:10-12

Think

“What have you done?” Four words that carry a lot of punch. Being on the receiving end of this little question can be quite intimidating! I imagine the sailors’ tone sounded like a parent stumbling upon evidence that their child misbehaved. It is not hard to hear the collective voice of Jonah’s shipmates, looking for a quick fix to their emergency and wanting to rid themselves of the “cause” of the problem.

Quick fixes would be nice, but that’s not always the way God works, is it? Changing direction may not always be easy, and it may require a slice of humble pie. Yet I wonder if assigning blame misses the mark.

What if we turn the question around? Instead of a quick fix, maybe we should take time to ask: What has God done? What great lengths will God go to in order to get the message to us that we are a part of God’s story and have a vital role to play in that narrative?

Neil Myer

Pray

Faithful God, help me to avoid the quick fix, but rather invite me into the complexities of your ways — so that I may be the person you would have me be and live the way you would have me live. Amen.

Go

Christ is calling you today. Time to trust and follow the example of love.