In the Zone

Have you ever gotten help where you least expected? May be it was a person who never had a kind word for you who helped you out in a financial time of need. Perhaps a hardened family member showed up to provide a should to cry on. Possibly a stranger stopped by while you were stranded on the side of the road and allowed you to use their phone or helped fix your car. It's always neat to get an unexpected surprise. My heart is warmed by stories of strangers who stop to help others, even at great cost to their own lives. It shows that God is always working to restore what was lost in his creation when sin entered the world. As I ponder the story of Jonah, a question pops into my mind:  Why did God send a fish? Certainly God could have provided a rescue by other means.  He is God.  He could send a boat, a plank of wood or even a great wind to get Jonah back to shore. Instead, he sends a great fish to swallow him whole. That's a strange mode of rescue, but it's jus

On May 14, 1988, Larry Mahoney made a poor decision. Mahoney drank too much alcohol and then decided to get behind the wheel of his pick-up truck.  In his inebriated state, Mahoney drove north on the southbound lane of Interstate 71, eventually colliding head-on with a church bus returning from a youth outing at the King's Island amusement park. As a result of the crash, the bus burst into flames. Cut off from the exits, 27 people lost their lives and an additional 34 others were injured.  Only six people came away from the crash uninjured.  With injuries and fatalities combined, it is considered the worst bus crash in the history of the United States. Mahoney was convicted of 27 counts of manslaughter and served almost 11 years in jail. Sin has consequences. As a consequence of Mahoney's poor decision to drink and drive, he caused a fatal accident, injured himself and served a decade of prison time.  Not only that, but he must live with the result of his poor decis

"I'm running away." I can remember uttering that as a child often.  Anytime I didn't like a parental decision, fought with my brother or just didn't get my way, I'd grab a backpack full of toys, sling it over my shoulders and declare my independence.  I'd yell that famous phrase as I'd leave out the door, walk to the porch and never really leave to go anywhere. As human beings, we have a desire to run from the problems we face in life.  When something becomes to difficult or takes place out of our comfort zone, our tendency is to leave the situation. We run from our problems, our responsibilities and our commitments.  Sometimes with little or no notice. That's exactly what Jonah did. In Jonah 1, God gave Jonah an order.  Go to Nineveh, Israel's enemy, and deliver a message.  Tell them of their imminent destruction.  Prophecy against the nation to the very people who live there. You see, God wanted Jonah to get personally involved.