My Theology Corrected By A Five-Year Old!
It's not everyday that a five-year old corrects my theology. But that is exactly what happened a few weeks ago.
On a routine evening of reading Bible stories before my boys went to sleep I came across the story of Jonah and the Whale, which my sons know very well. After I finished reading the forty-word story, and after the boys had feasted their eyes on the colorful pictures that illustrated the main characters in the tiny minor prophet (only called minor because of its length-not because of his role in Scripture) book of Jonah in the Old Testament, I said a small prayer. I was almost ready to tell my twin boys to go crawl in bed when my son Christian blurts out this phrase, "Dad, the whale...that whale was Jonah's best friend." I really didn't pay my son much attention as five-year olds can spout out just about anything and much of it makes absolutely no sense at all. But this was different-and I almost missed it. I gave him that common parental phrase that you can hear at just about any time of the day in our house, "Oh, really. That's good." But then his words seeped into that small part of my brain that processes information.
I paused for a moment and looked at my son. It hit me like a ton of bricks. He was absolutely right. That whale (or gigantic fish) was Jonah's best friend! At the onset it appeared to everyone involved in the story that this whale was end of Jonah and his life on earth, but in reality it was simply the beginning of Jonah's life with the Lord and walking in His will. The whale was not so much a disastrous consequence of Jonah's decision to run from the Lord, as it was a deliverance from Jonah's decision to be thrown from the boat (this of course all resulted from Jonah's original disobedience to God). How we view the whale in this story is based entirely on our perspective or viewpoint. Jonah would have died in the waters of that treacherous sea had God not provided a monstrous fish to swallow Jonah whole and alive. Jonah probably thought that the whale was a new problem until he repented and the fish dumped him out on the shore. If we make the right choice in the middle of our problem the "problem" will look more like a lifesaver.
Sometimes, almost all the time, this life has obstacles that come our way that we may view as being a monstrous problem-that is, of course, until we come out the other side realizing that the perceived problem was an answer and a delivering solution to a previous issue. In Jonah's case, he had stepped out of the will of God for his life. Had he not repented he would have sealed his fate in that fish. That fish had the ability to be Jonah's deliverance or his destruction. He chose to repent and God allowed him to live to see another day to preach the Gospel as a prophet of God to the Ninevites, a gentile people located in what is now the tip of modern day Iraq. Amazingly, Jonah was the only prophet in the Old Testament sent to gentiles. (This is why Jesus calls Peter, "Son of Jonah" in the New Testament. Jonah was not Peter's father. In the Bible, the titles, "Son of _______", like Son of Vipers, or Sons of Disobedience, Sons of Belial, Son of Man, are titles, and they represent the destiny or mission of a person. In Peter's case, he was to reach out to the gentiles (Acts 10), just like Jonah. He had a God-given destiny that was similar to Jonah's-you can read more about Peter and Jonah in a paper I've written called Peter's Mission www.unpopulartruth.org/petersmission.html).
If there is a problem in our life we must learn to step back, take an alternative perspective and not get offended at God. (because He did not send the problem-He is perfectly holy and cannot send evil. In order to send something you must first possess it in order to send it. Think of mailing a package, you cannot send it unless you first possess it and own it). We must ask ourselves why this problem is in our life. There are four possibilities. First, it could be from the Evil One-yes, he can pose a problem. Second, it could be something from someone else that lives in this fallen world or just from living in this world period. There are a whole host of issues that we face in life that are a direct result of living in a world full of sin. Third, it could be something that we brought on our self (this is usually the issue). Finally, it may be God that is trying to purge us from something that is in our life that should not be there. He did not bring on this problem; we did by our own choices. He may be ironing out the wrinkles or cleansing us so we can enter His perfect abode (heaven) when we pass from this life to the real, eternal life. He may desire to test us to bring us into a deeper relationship with Him. How can we grow in academia (school work) unless we are tested? How do we grow in anything unless we are tested? Sometimes, God does allow us to go through a test-similar to the Israelites in the Old Testament. But in all cases God is trying to purge something from us to prepare us for something else. If we missed His prompting He may have to prompt a little harder to get us to move from our comfortable positions. I like to use this illustration:
Imagine for a moment that a person is walking down the path to an eternity of hell. A place where people cry out for just a drip of contaminated water for a moment of reprieve from the insanity of a horrendous and dreadful pain. Now, you will need to understand that this person does not know that they are on the road to hell. They are merely living out their life on earth with no idea of what awaits them when they die. Okay, do you have it in your mind? (This is going to get a little crazy and you will need to bear through the ludicrousness for a moment.) Imagine that same person hearing a helicopter in the distance and when he looks up it flies right over him, explodes, and the shrapnel falls to the ground and completely severs his legs from beneath him. He lives, but is never able to walk again. He has to stay in one place and cannot walk the path that leads to hell. Here is my question: Is what happened to this person a bad thing or a good thing? Think before you answer.
It is all about perspective.
When all hell seems to break loose, try to take a different picture of it, examine it and learn how you can draw closer to Christ through it all. Maybe you are that person on their way to hell and maybe God is allowing trials to come your way to get your attention. It is inevitable that when situations grow into despair and despondency, when they get out of our control (like they were ever in our control-yeah, right) that we will look to someone that is perceived to be greater than we are. When this is prompted in your mind, seek the Father in heaven. He is yearning for you.
End of thought.