November 3, 2025
I was reading the book of Jonah in the Message Bible this morning and a couple of words really stood out to me-up and down.
…God’s Word came to Jonah…”Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They’re in a bad way and I can’t ignore it any longer.”
But Jonah got up and went the other direction to Tarshish, running away from God. He went down to the Port of Joppa…as far away from God as he could get. But God….
— Jonah 1:1-5 The Message Bible
Then Jonah prayed to his God…”at the bottom…, I was as far down as a body could go…yet you pulled me up from that grave alive…and I’ll do what I promised I’d do!”
-Jonah 2:7-10 The Message Bible
Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God…
-Jonah 4:1 The Message Bible
Ohhh, Jonah. Bless his heart, right? 
His story is one big roller coaster of “Yes, Lord… wait no, Lord… fine, Lord… actually I’d rather sit in my feelings, Lord.” And honestly? Same with me sometimes. You know, right?
Jonah’s life feels like a highlight reel of human moods (ups and downs) and God’s mercy, (constant, always the same) doesn’t it?
One minute Jonah is God’s prophet…
The next minute he’s sprinting in the opposite direction like the call of God is a bill collector or an angry mother bear.
He goes down into a boat.
Down into the sea.
Down into a fish.
Down, down, down!!!
And just when it looks like the story should be over, God’s grace dives deeper still. (After Jonah prayed)
God meets him in the “down”.
Not to shame him, but to save him.
Not to toss him aside, but to turn him around.
I’ve been like Jonah. I knew about God. I had a praying, Bible reading, strong in faith Mama. And my daddy, though often angry and making sinful choices, made sure I accepted Jesus and was baptized at the age of 12. I am thankful my parents set me on the right path.
Yet, I lived my live running away from God mostly, not out of anger though, mostly out of rebellion and ignorance.
My life seemed mostly down in my growing up years. If I got in a bind, there was always mama to pray for me. I didn’t feel worthy to pray.
I, like Jonah, was running from the God life to what I thought was the good life. I don’t even like to think about the foolish choices I made let alone share them, but at times God calls me to share…In hopes of sparing someone from despair.
Needless to say my life kept going in a downward spiral. I thought finding a husband to “love me and take care of me” was the answer. 
After all those years of looking and doing things I regret, to find that someone special to be my husband, I finally found the man who loved me most and asked me to be his wife in 1988.
As time passed on and giving birth to our only child, I still felt like something was missing in my life.
In 1996 I finally figured out what I so desperately needed. It was God! So I humbled myself and prayed this prayer:
Dear God,
I can’t do this anymore, please give me peace and give me strength. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
One simple prayer of surrender and asking for God’s help lifted me out of the dark pit I was down in, and up to a place of light and hope. A place I have never purposely ran from again!
So, what happened to Jonah? He ended up in a deep dark pit-in the depths of the ocean-down in the belly of a whale. Why, because he chose to run away from God instead of obeying him.
Jonah too, (once down in the belly of the whale) found himself surrendering to God and asking for help in a prayer. 
And then—round two.
God spoke to Jonah a second time. (That line gets me every time.) Why?
Because where we see failure, God sees future.
Where we see “I blew it,” God says, “I’m not done.”
Thank you God! 
Back to Jonah …He obeys… and revival breaks loose in Nineveh.
The most unlikely heart change in the most unlikely people, all because God isn’t limited by our detours.
And yet—even after obedience and victory—Jonah still wrestles.
Still reacts selfishly. Making it all about himself again-
Still sitting salty and stubborn outside the city, forgetting the mercy that just rescued him.
How soon we forget that it’s God’s goodness that leads us to repentance.
How could Jonah act that way after what God had done for him?
But here’s the gospel in Jonah:
Even when Jonah sulks, God stays.
Even when Jonah gets in his feelings, God still sits with him.
Even when Jonah doesn’t “get it,” God doesn’t give
up.
There’s no throwaway chapter in the life of someone God loves.
And for that I am forever grateful. Let’s give him the praise He deserves. All glory and honor go to God whose love and mercy endure forever!
Where are you today? Up or down?
Running?
Sinking?
Waiting?
Obeying?
Confused after victory?
Sitting under your own pouty plant? 
Ugh!!
No matter the season, God’s mercy flows deeper than our mistakes, wider than our wanderings, and more patient than our emotions.
Jonah’s story is our story too…read it today, it’s short and it isn’t really about Jonah’s stubbornness — it’s about God’s stubborn love for us
Prayer:
Lord, thank You that You don’t give up when we do.
Thank You for second and beyond chances, fish-belly rescues, gentle lessons, and relentless grace. Help us run to You, not from You. Teach us to see people the way You do, and give us a heart that celebrates Your mercy instead of resisting it. In Jesus name we pray,
Amen.
So let’s just take some deep cleansing breaths …Yes right now! (In through your nostrils, out through your open mouth) After praying to the one living God, we can know we are held, pursued, redirected, and deeply loved… even on our Jonah days. 
Hear God saying to you today: “Up, on your feet, be on your way, I’ll tell you where to go and what to do and say!”
We are not in this dark DOWN and out world alone! The GREAT I AM is with us! He still speaks, he still hears, and answers our prayers, and He still lifts us UP, when we surrender and ask for his help!
WITH GOD IT’S AN UP AND AT ‘EM WAY!
So, Get going HIS WAY 
today and see “ How high can you go”!
