Life has a way of taking us to unexpected places.  My plans to catch up with writing took a back seat to an emergency call this evening.  All is well with my patient so that is good news.  It's one of those people that I want nothing bad to happen to them.  Part of me was sitting wearily in my chair just prior to the phone ringing.  Any decent minister doesn't wait for more information before taking off to check on their people.  My hope is my efforts at ministry were at least that.  You try to find out as much as you can then pray with a genuine heart with those involved.  God has this way of doing things like this when you least expect it.

Most of my reading this week is in the area of providence.  Most of us know the word without much thought as to its meaning.  We believe God is big enough to handle our world.  We truly hope God will always be good in what He does.  My usual example is how we have the second coming all figured out.  We live with our theology about who will do what and when.  Our problem becomes translating that faith into God giving us daily bread.  This is when the God who is big enough to bring about the end of the world may not be enough to get us through our most common problems.  Lots of people have faith in God's providence for something out there but struggle with it right now.

Jonah talks to us about providence.  It tells us about a God who pursues us even when we fail to follow.  It speaks to us about a God who can take our worst yet make it His best.  We discover that even the worst moments of our life may be God's invitation to join Him.  This will call for more than a few of us to have a real heart change along the way.  We too often take God's guidance and His goodness for granted.  We just move right along with our life without much thought as to what He may be doing in the present tense.  Part of being able to worship is knowing God doesn't take time off from our life.  We may think we do not matter but we do.  Jonah tries all he can to get away from God yet it is His providence that ultimately saves him.  Even the big fish works out the will of God for the wayward prophet.  We can be assured that our God will indeed work things out to His good.  Sunday night will be another chapter in this story.  Remember that every question of why things happen really is not a problem.  Just move further to ask God what He desires to be doing in making you who He wants you to be.  This way you know life isn't just fishy.

Bro. Trey