The Reluctant Follower, Day 6 I feel so overwhelmed!! Read Jonah 2:1-4. I think we’ve all had moments where we are just exhausted. Life keeps going on and we find ourselves busier and busier, and more and more overwhelmed. I’m sure Jonah was overwhelmed at this point. In chapter 2, he records his prayer to God, we see that he is truly overwhelmed with everything going on. He has a reason to be. He is in the stomach of a fish swimming through the ocean. That’s probably as close to actually being dead, without being dead, that a person can be. Here is where Jonah finds himself when he calls…

The Reluctant Follower, Day 5 God’s provision. Read Jonah 1:17. How often do we pray for God to provide for us? In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus tells the people that they shouldn’t worry about anything because God provides for his children. We typically have an assumption of what that looks like and what we expect God’s provision to be. However, here, God provided for Jonah. He provided a great fish to swallow him. We need to take a minute and revise what our assumptions are of God’s provision. I’m sure Jonah would have never envisioned a large fish swallowing him so that he wouldn’t drown in the sea. Still, the…

The Reluctant Follower, Day 4 They called him innocent. Read Jonah 1:13-16. I remember being younger and getting into arguments with my brother. We would be fussing and arguing about something and then mom would get upset at us. What do each of us claim? “She/He started it!” Basically, we are yelling that we are innocent and we shouldn’t be punished! Yesterday, we see that Jonah is telling the fishermen that he’s completely guilty and that they should just kill him by tossing him into the sea. Instead, these ungodly men are doing everything to save Jonah’s life. They don’t want to throw him into the sea. Jonah doesn’t just…

The Reluctant Follower, Day 1 Yep, nope. Not going to do that. Read Jonah 1:1-3. After studying Titus and Paul, who were both willing followers for Christ, I wanted to take a few days and walk back through someone who wasn’t so willing. While I absolutely want to follow Christ with all my heart, I’d be lying if I said there weren’t days when I’m more reluctant about it. Maybe I’m just not feeling it that day. Maybe, I’ve been tossed around a little more that day. Maybe the road has seemed particularly hard. Whatever the reason, there are days when I’m not “feeling” my commitment to Christ. Those are…