“Stories are the most prominent biblical way of helping us see ourselves in ‘God’s story’,” Eugene Peterson.
In the Jonah narrative I see God’s relentless love at work. The sailors on their way to Tarshish experienced it (Jonah 1); the residents of Nineveh experienced it (Jonah 3); Jonah experienced it. And in several ways, Jonah’s story is my story as well as I experience God’s relentless love to me.
“Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”
Jonah 2:8 NIV
Perhaps these words originally referred to the sailors on their way to Tarshish who openly followed other gods. They could also be speaking of the Israelites living in Nineveh who had gone astray from the one true God. Maybe they are describing Jonah who thought he could outsmart God.
And in them, I heard and I still hear, God speaking to me.
I don’t remember what prompted me to memorize that verse many years ago. (I do remember being teased about memorizing from the book of Jonah.) Now I see God was nudging me about something I was clinging to that would not allow me to experience his grace, his relentless love. His nudge took several years before I responded.
As I reflect back, those worthless idols I was clinging to are obvious. I was clinging to my definition of purpose, of acceptance, of identity, of fruitful ministry. Those idols blinded my eyes and my heart to the grace God was wanting to shower on me. Although my desires were okay and in line with God’s desires for me, I was clueless as to how God wanted to work out the reality of those desires in my life. So I clung to my idols; what I thought was the reality. And for many years I forfeited the grace God had for me.
Like Jonah, the word of the Lord came to me. Unlike Jonah, I really did want to do God’s bidding. Jonah tried to flee from God’s presence (Jonah 1:3) … an impossible desire. I did what I thought I needed to do to follow God. I thought my doings would would prove my identity. Another impossible!
“But to all who received him,
who believed in his name,
he gave power to become children of God;”
John 1:12 RSV
I needed to deal with my identity idol. John 1:12 was the first scripture I purposed to memorize. I memorized it successfully, but I didn’t listen to its truth that I had become a child of God. John 1:12 revealed my true identity. But I continued to live with my idol not remembering the identity God — in his relentless love — gave me.
These days, I regularly rehearse my God-given identity and his relentless love and allow it to lead my doings. I don’t want my doings to become my idols.
What idols do you see yourself clinging to?
Copyright, Sue Tell, January 2021