Why Me, Lord?

“The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." (Jonah 1:1-2)

I made a profession of faith at a very young age.  By the time I was 13, I felt God was calling me to be a missionary.  Sadly, by my 18th birthday my life took a steep nose-dive into a life of sin.  I won’t go into the details right now, but suffice it to say it didn’t look good. 

When God called me into ministry in 1996, the first question that popped into my mind was, “How can God possible use someone like me?”  To be quite frank, the past life I had led was not exactly moral and Christian character building.  Yet, here I was.  Without any doubt I was beginning a new journey in life in the service of my lord.  Wow!  What could God be thinking? But during my personal Bible study, the Spirit led me to read about the story of a man named Jonah. An interesting, and somewhat unusual story. And here is where I saw myself.  Almost exactly as described. 

At this point let’s take a look at Jonah’s story.

Allow me to begin by saying that the story of Jonah sheds a unique light on the choices God makes in individuals.  In this story of Jonah, we see that God clearly picked Jonah to carry out God's task.  When you understand Jonah's failures, you will probably ask why God would ever have chosen him.  Certainly God foresaw the mistakes and failures Jonah would make, so why chose him in the first place?  It’s unlikely anyone today would pick Jonah as a leader, or choose Him to represent God before mankind.

Just look at Jonah's winning personality traits.  We find that he is defiant, openly stubborn, arrogant in voicing his opinions to God, a whiner and complainer, and then wallows in self-pity. Hmm, sounds like someone I know.  None of these qualities jumps off the page suggesting Jonah's candidacy for leadership.

So why in the world would God choose Jonah? Surely there was a more model candidate.  Nope!  In fact, God was deliberate in selecting Jonah.  God chose this man because Jonah displayed three amazing characteristics that you might not possess.

First, we find that Jonah was a listener.  He heard the voice of God. Somewhere during Jonah's lifetime, he developed the ability to hear God's voice over every other noise in the world.  Jonah could distinguish God's voice because he had developed his listening abilities and knew, undeniably, what the voice of the Lord sounded like.  God chose Jonah because he could hear God's voice.  (See John 8:47)

Second, we find that Jonah was available.  Jonah was available to do God's work. Jonah had been available in the past, and God knew Jonah would clear his schedule and carry out the work of the Lord.  God knew Jonah would be available this time and probably more times in the future.  God chose Jonah because he was available.  (See Romans 12:11)

And third, we find that Jonah was not perfect.  This is actually a very good quality to have, in the Lord's eyes.  God does not pick the mighty or the proud, or the skilled, or the learned, or the leaders of this world.  He picks people that are willing to let God work in and through them despite their inabilities.  God purposely chooses the foolish things of this world because, for some strange reason, He delights in bringing shame to the world's wisdom.  God chose Jonah because he was not the "perfect" candidate.  (See 2 Corinthians 12:9)

If you were to display these characteristics before the Lord (an imperfect, but available listener), then it is likely God would choose you for some amazing tasks.  If God hasn't called on you, it is possible you are lacking in one of these three characteristics.  I'd suggest start with learning to hear His voice.  He's probably trying to call on you right now.

Would you be available if you actually heard His voice speak to you?

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