Like Jonah, do you ever feel like you're in the belly of a whale? Would you ever think to give that whale a name....the name of "Grace"?  In the midst of a challenge, do you stop to consider it is God's way of showing grace? Lots to contemplate from last night's Bible study on Jonah by Priscilla Shirer......

"But what seems like it’s been designed to kill us may actually be God’s way of preserving us, rescuing us from what could be a far more dire consequence.  Maybe, just maybe, the more vast the consequences we face, the more vast the work He plans to perform through us after it eases up or passes. When we feel His correction particularly heavy upon us, it’s sometimes not so much in proportion to past or recent sin as in proportion to the great task awaiting us when He’s done, when we’ve endured it." If Jonah had not been swallowed by the whale, he would have drowned - God's preservation - God's grace.

Thought-provoking quote from John Piper,  "Adversity is redemptive; it’s not merely punitive." And more from Priscilla,  "God isn’t out to hurt you; He’s out to redeem you. He’s out to get you back to your senses, back to where you realize you’ve been headed the wrong direction, back where you’re desperate to turn this misstep around if given the opportunity. Back to a place where you want His forgiveness as badly as you wanted your independence, where you crave accountability the way you used to crave your freedom, where the things you once cherished about your life with Him become the things you now desire more than life itself." (I want to bold every single word in that paragraph!)

Isaiah 30:18 "The LORD longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him."

Romans 5:3-4 "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces hope."

Hebrews 12:6 "For those whom the LORD loves He disciplines...."

Did you notice the truth in the Hebrews verse? God disciplines those He loves. It does NOT feel good at the time but that discipline is to stop us from going down the wrong path, to preserve us, to give us the opportunity to restore our relationship with Him. While we're in the belly of the circumstance, like Jonah, we can call out to God. Right now - whatever our circumstances -  it's our chance to call out to God.

Jonah 2:1 "Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the stomach of the fish."

God doesn't need us to accomplish His purposes but because He cares, He wants to give us another chance, to make us usable, to turn our mess into a masterpiece. Through His sacrifice on the cross,  Christ has won the right to declare us approved and acceptable in the eyes of the Father once we acknowledge our fault, accept our discipline, and ask for forgiveness, and like Jonah, we can be as usable as ever. A forgiven sinner is always welcome at the throne of God - a place called Grace.