I Would, But…Sample

Have you ever thought to yourself, “I want to do something significant for God, but I’m just stuck where I am”? Maybe you’re a waiter, or you live in a small town and it feels like the things of God only exist in bigger and better places. Jonah could’ve felt this way too. Certainly he’s thankful and grateful that God saved him, but we wouldn’t fault him for thinking he’s missed his chance to do what God called him to do. After all, he is quite literally ‘stuck’ where he’s at.

Here’s what’s so telling about the heart of God – Jonah admits his mistakes, he owns up to his past, and he recognizes that God is still good. And in that moment, his praise brings about progress! God is moved by humility. There’s something that’s unlocked in that moment of honesty and humility that wasn’t there before. Because as we know, he was in that fish for three days!

Maybe Jonah spent the first two days wallowing in the fact that he’s utterly and completely stuck. His life is not where he wants it to be; it’s not even where it needs to be for him to do what God called him to! And maybe day three rolls around and he realizes – even if he can’t do what God called him to do most recently, he CAN do what God called him to do with his life. The same thing you and I have been called to do in everything we do – bring glory to God. So he begins to cry out and gets real honest with God. And God takes that as a sign of obedience, right where he’s at.

The lesson? Wherever you are, what you do, do it to the glory of God. You might find that God takes that obedience and makes something more of it. Our job is simply to bring the praise!