So they picked up Jonah and threw him in the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah 1:15-17
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Today's message is going to be simple and to the point because the message is about something we all already know and it has to do with the words that caught my eye as I read. The words or rather, the phrase that caught my eye today is this 'Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah.' As these words caught my attention today I noticed that it said that God prepared that great fish for a reason. According to the Strong's the word prepared is from (4487) a primitive root, to weigh out; by implication to allot or constitute officially; also to enumerate or enroll. God, sovereign over all, officially weighed out this option, allotted and or enrolled this great fish. He had sent it to swallow up Jonah so that he didn't drown when he was thrown overboard.
He had prepared it and what an amazing preparation it was! He prepared this one particular great fish for this very special purpose. He even made him big enough to be able to do the job necessary. He had even prepared it to be able to... with one big gulp...swallow a grown man alive and whole. Think about it. One minute your in the ocean kicking and swimming trying not to drown and the next your being swallowed whole! No loss of limb! It didn't bite him and chew on him; it swallowed him whole. It wasn't just a hungry fish swimming along by chance. It was a fish that was there because God had prepared him to be the way for Jonah to live and after three days in the belly of that fish Jonah had repented. He was now ready to continue along the path that God had prepared and called him to. "But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord." So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land." Jonah 2:9-10 He even had the fish not just spit him out but take him to land first.
We know that God has a plan. We know that 'He has hedged us behind and before, and laid His hand upon us' Psalm 139:5 We know, but we, like Jonah, still make choices that make it seem like we think playing peek-a-boo or hide-n-seek are possible with God. He has prepared a way for us. He is a God who is in the details. He even prepares enough to have a 'big gulp' waiting for us when we get lost along the way!
God sent a tempest wind and prepared a great fish special to swallow Jonah so that Jonah, a boat load of fishermen, and a whole city could come to a place of knowing Him. What do you think it means He will do to prepare the way for you and I that we might fulfill the plan and purposes that He has for our lives?
"He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:17
'Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' Matthew 25:34
He Has a plan! He is a God who covers every detail necessary to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. He has been working the plan since the foundation of the world and He is working His plan so that you and I would have all that has been prepared especially for us!
'In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And I go and prepare a place, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you will be also. John 14:2,3
Remember, even if it involves a great fish and a 'big gulp' in the plan, His way is always perfect! He has a plan and a purpose to give us a hope and a future that can be found in Him and with Him!
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