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How Low Can You Go?

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Jonah 2:1, 5-6 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly,…The waters compassed me about, even to [the extinction of] life; the abyss surrounded me, the seaweed was wrapped about my head.6 I went down to the bottoms and the very roots of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever. Yet You have brought up my life from the pit and corruption, O Lord my God.

You don’t get much lower than being surrounded by the abyss and traveling to the bottoms of the mountains. But that’s how low Jonah was lodged in the fish’s belly. How many of you have been there? Isolated, alone, and feeling like the only thing you have left is God (and even that doesn’t feel like enough). The interesting paradox is you are not alone. Others are feeling alone, and that God has abandoned them to their circumstances. Yet Scripture says that is precisely the place He can be found: Isaiah 57:15 “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

What does it mean to be contrite? It means that you feel like you have been crushed, broken, cast down, and made to feel very small. The word lowly implies you have gone as low as you can go, or to humble yourself. Interestingly the Hebrew word for lowly finds it reference to a mountain. How does a mountain become low? The implication is, physically speaking, from an earth bound perspective a mountain is about as high as you can get. For that mountain to be humbled it would have to be leveled, scraped from the earth, sifted, and its debris leveled.

How do you get delivered from the belly of this world system that seeks to chew, devour, and spit you out? Seek for and meet with God. Not in the heights of Heaven but in the depths of your earth. You see you are a son or daughter of Adam. In other words you are but dust. The good news is this is the very place Jesus kneels to make you new. The Hebrew word for bless implies kneeling before, or bending low in order to impart favor, grace, and prosperity. Picture that: The Creator of the Universe kneels before you to impart Grace. What does this mean? If you want to meet with the Godhead you have to join Him in the dust of that which is out of alignment, and harmony with His Holiness (otherness, uniqueness, separateness from all that is average, normal, and expected) In other words you have to acknowledge where you have sinned, or broken agreement with Who He is and God’s original design.

Susanah Wesley, the mother of John and Charles Wesley, was once asked to define sin. She defined it as: anything that weakens one’s reason, impairs their conscience, obscures their sense of God, or diminishes their interest in spiritual things. Essentially, anything that gives the body undue influence over the mind, even if seemingly innocent, is considered sin. Interestingly enough you can actually find a list of things to confess simply by reading the book of Jonah. If you want to seek Jesus in order to meet with Him you have to meet Him in the dust of confession, agreeing with Him about where you have broken agreement.

May I encourage you that during this season of repentance and seeking God that you commit to pray daily the prayer of Jonah for forty days, identifying with Jonah, and his many sins? Here are a few of Jonah’s sins you may need to confess:

Similarities Between Jonah and Us:

  1. Jnh.1:1-3 – Jonah Seeks to run in disobedience from the Word of the Lord – ignoring it. Are you presently obeying all you know from the Word of God, or from His revealed will? Was there something preached yesterday you experienced conviction and correction that you need to put into practice today?
  2. Jnh. 1:3 – Seeks to pay a price to flee from God’s Presence , serving God, and others. Are you seeking God’s Manifested Presence and if so do seek to remain, or to abide? Are you currently, and actively seeking to serve God in personal worship, praise, thanksgiving and prayer on a daily basis? Are you currently serving others in your church or have you been more consumer oriented, centered in yourself, your wants, likes, and dislikes?

Do you smell that?

/in /by

Jonah 1:3 So he paid the appointed fare and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish from being in the presence of the Lord [as His servant and minister].

One question comes to mind: What price are you paying to NOT be surrendered to the Lord’s Presence in serving others? It’s a shame that ministry has been perverted, and twisted to the degree that is hard to recognize Jesus in the ministers who claim to represent Him. Where so-called ministers of the Lord become the served rather than the servers. I find it humorous that over the years some have felt the “call” to the ministry while having no desire to serve Jesus or the Body of Christ – they simply want a platform for their “gifts” or talents. Others seek to be in the “ministry” simply because it’s easy money and they don’t have to work like the rest of the world. But I digress.

Another way of restating the previous question is to ask, What price are you willing to pay to NOT die for Jesus, or others? What’s the least you can give to Jesus and others and have the benefits of eternal life? I just spent some time journaling seeking to process some of the things that have transpired in my life since April. From the untimely death of my sister till now I listed at least seven different challenges that have assailed, and buffeted me. When I listed them one question rose to the surface: What purpose do these difficulties serve and why have I been spiritually assaulted? While pondering the answer to this question I recalled that several others have been going through similar challenges. Painful challenges. Following this realization the more pressing question became, What is on the horizon spiritually that the Lord is preparing us for its inevitability? Jonah’s fleeing from the Presence, and service to the Lord led to his life sinking into the belly of a fish. (Imagine how bad he stunk following the fish spitting him out on dry land).

Only once in my walk with the Lord have I smelled His fragrance. I have known others within our church who have smelled the beauty of His visitation. Which raises the greatest question. The question we should all be asking: What difference is there between Jesus, you and me, and Jonah’s life? Are we getting closer to smelling like Jesus or Jonah? Jesus’ embrace of His Father’s Presence, and serving others, has caused His life and Presence to smell sweet. On the other hand, Jonah’s avoidance of God’s Presence, and his unwillingness to serve God and others caused his life to stink. The moral of the story? Self-centeredness stinks. Dying for Jesus, and to yourself, causes the fragrance of Jesus to be released bringing life to those around you. Isn’t it interesting how we send flowers to those who are grieving or sad? The flowers have to surrender their lives to bring sunshine and sweet, smelling fragrances to those who are enshrouded in darkness, and the stench of hopelessness, discouragement, and despair. 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 states: But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,15 For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing:16 To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is qualified (fit and sufficient) for these things? [Who is able for such a ministry? We?]