The Whale

It’s funny when you know where you are... and you know how to escape... but you can’t. And by funny, I of course mean that you have to laugh so you don’t cry kind of funny.

I am stuck in a place that goes against my very being. I am a doer, I am a go getter, I am an effector and I hate to admit it, but I’m a person who needs praise . My job right now has me stuck in a place where I not only don’t get any recognition really, but I don’t have much of an effect on meaningful things. I have people who work for me who don’t want to be there, who have more work than they have hours in the day, and they too would enjoy recognition for that hard work from more than just me... and it’s hard to come by.

One of my son’s favorite stories is Jonah and the Whale, and recently I had an idea that I am facing a Jonah time in my life. I know that my life has a purpose of serving God and not doing what I’m doing now, but I cannot physically leave for nine more months, so I sit... and pray... and continue to hope in the Lord that my day will come and that I will in fact be delivered from the belly of this whale.

This is a very hard place for me. I do not like to “be still and know that [He] is God” (Psalm 46:10). I want to DO. But there is truly a season for everything:

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV)

I’m not going to learn much by always doing what I’m good at. The Holy Spirit is going to teach me by placing me where I need to be “purified”.

6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:6-8 NIV).

So though it’s not comfortable and I wiggle sometimes, and I cry sometimes, here I sit trying to be still and know that He is God. I will appreciate my reward so much more when it comes at a price.

Reflection Question: How are you being purified by being taken out of your comfort zone right now? or how have you been in the past?