Jonah's Downward Spiral

Today the Life in Tulsa TV crew goes to the Oklahoma Aquarium to shoot our next show. My favorite thing to see there are the Bull Sharks. Right here in Tulsa we have the largest BS in captivity. (that's Bull Sharks people!) Whenever I see a big fish and people in the same room I think about a guy named Jonah. God spoke to him and told him to go to Nineveh and tell the people to straighten up. Jonah heard the word but left for Tarshish. He had a plan. He ran...away from God! He went DOWN to Joppa. He found a boat sailing that direction, boarded it and then went DOWN below deck to rest. A great storm came upon the ship and it wasn't long till Jonah realized that it was his disobeying God that was bringing the chaos. He told the shipmates to throw him overboard and Jonah was thrown off and went DOWN into the water. Jonah was on a DOWNward spiral. Every decision he was making was taking him DOWN!
God sent a BIG FISH...bigger than the Bull Sharks in Tulsa to swallow Jonah. And once Jonah found himself in the belly of the whale he had a change of heart. You might say he he had a gut reaction to make a change! He prayed to God in that desolate, stinking place and God heard him. He spent 3 days and nights in that place before he was spit out on land. This time he obeyed and did what the Lord asked him to do.
Maybe you keep making decisions that seem to take you DOWN. Every day you go deeper and deeper in despair. The good news is that no matter how bad your situation gets, you and I will probably never be in the belly of a BIG FISH! What we need to know is that we can turn our life around wherever we are. It doesn't matter how bad we have been or what we have done.What matters most is what we do right now. God is waiting to hear our prayer and he's ready to spit you back out into the game of life so you can use your second chance to bring Him glory and to bring you success.
What's your "gut" telling you? Is it time for a change? Are you ready to try things God's way? Salvation comes from the Lord! All you've got to do is ask!
Jonah 2:9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the LORD."
10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it spit Jonah onto dry land.