Momentary Submission
Lesson 3
As we continue to learn valuable lessons from the prophet Jonah, today we will look at his ‘momentary submission’ to God’s will in his life. In active addiction, we have all been Jonahs’. As the old saying goes, “When the going gets tough the tough gets going,” and this is exactly what we do when our lives become unmanageable similar to Jonah. Like Jonah, we ‘momentarily submit’ to the powers that be, whatever they are, for a release of the agony as the path ahead looks very bleak. Jonah knew he was disobedient, he knew there was a consequence, and the path ahead from all appearances was ultimately death. When placed in situations like Jonah, we too exercise ‘momentary submission’. Submission to something greater within us because we know that we do not have the control we once thought we had.
Jonah’s submission in the belly of the fish clearly indicates genuine ‘momentary submission’. Jonah 2:3-9 records his prayer of submission. “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
And how often we have done this in our ‘foxhole prayers’. “God get me out of this one. I promise, I swear on my life, I will never do it again.!” Liar! As soon as the storm has passed we are back to the chase. Can you relate? Now do not get me wrong; these prayers are often genuine, but they are ‘momentary’. And we all know this all to well. The question is, “When will your cry and prayer stick and become permanent?” The Answer? When you change your heart. When you have that ‘aha’ moment, that wake up call, when you can see that your DOC (drug of choice) is no longer your ‘savior’ but your ‘enemy’.
Although Jonah submitted and repented, he did not change his heart towards the Ninevites. This is evident at the end of Jonah 3:10 “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.,” and Jonah 4:1, “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.” Jonah maintained his old heart and stood his ground on changing his resentment against the Ninevites; he resorted to his old ways. And this is exactly what we do in our addiction. We get the release we asked for, and as soon as the storm has passed we resort to the same behavior because there was no change of heart. We return to the DOC forgetting that there are still many more storms ahead.
I pray that this blog reaches into the hearts of ‘stone’ today. How much longer will we continue in this life of insanity, while we look on as others who once were where we are at are now, living a fruitful life? Maybe we love the chaos, the adversity, the attention? When is enough enough? ‘Permanently submit!’ James 4:7 states, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” You think about it!
In the next blog we will explore the concept of a changed heart of ‘flesh’ with the focus still on Jonah.
Good morning!
Remember, ‘nothing changes if nothing changes’ and ‘the same person will always use’.
Have a Blessed day in the Lord. You deserve it!
From the desk of Andy Ansola