God, What Were You Thinking???

Have you ever read the Bible and been like, “God, what were you thinking???”

So many stories in the Bible got me like that, ha!

There are numerous scenarios where I’m just left wondering why in the world God would do something like that.

The most recent story I read was Jonah. I mean, y’all... come on. Like, what??

We all know the story. God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach repentance, but Jonah didn’t want to. So Jonah ran away, which I mean, did he really think he could run away from God?? But he left and found himself on a boat. While on the boat, a horrible storm came, during which Jonah knew God had sent because he disobeyed Him. Thus, he told the people on the boat to throw him off to save themselves. They did, and so there Jonah was, left in a raging ocean, when suddenly a whale came and swallowed him.

Can you imagine???

First, God tells you to do something. You say no and run away. Then God “finds” you, orders a whale to swallow you, and there you sit for 3 days...inside of a WHALE!

Of all the things God could have done, why in the world would He have done this to get Jonah’s attention??? What I did learn was that the god that Ninevah worshipped at this time was designed as half fish and half man. Talk about making your point clear!

My first response would be just to find someone else God, but nope! God wanted Jonah, and Jonah He got!

This story just hit me one day in a way it never has. I was left shaking my head and wondering, “What was God thinking??” Not in a bad way. Just in a curious way, like with other stories. Why handle things that way? Wasn’t there any easier way? Why did that have to take so long? Wasn’t that a little extreme?

Then I look at my life. Thank goodness I have never had to be swallowed by a fish or wait until I was 90 years old to have a baby or build a huge boat, but I did have things happen in my life where I was left wondering, wasn’t there a better way, God?

I’m sure you can relate.

What I have found, as I have served the Lord, is that we will never have all the answers to that huge 3 letter question, “why?”.  What I have also found out is why. :)

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” - Isaiah 55:8-9

I don’t know all the answers to all the whys, but I do know the One Answer to all the whys.

When I get stuck on the questions of life, I have to understand that I won’t always understand. I have to trust in the Lord with my whole entire heart, realize He knows everything, sees everything, and then let my faith in Him bring peace to all the questions.

I simply have to realize, He is true to His Word and His Word is good.

While things may not seem or look good, it’s in those moments that I wait. Because when His Word tells me that He is working ALL things TOGETHER for my good because I love Him, then it will be good eventually. There is a purpose that is producing something, and just like the song that says, “If it’s not good, then He’s not done.”.

I went so many years without reading the Bible because I thought it was full of just words. I believed those words were true, but I didn’t feel I needed them in order to live for the Lord.

Boy, was I wrong!

Once I started reading and dedicating myself to learn the Bible, I found life in all those words. I found hope in those words, and more importantly, I found His promise in those words.

If you are in a season of wondering, I wanted to give you some encouragement. While you may not understand now, wait. You will. And when you do, you will look back and be thankful that God is God and you are not.

It’s in the uncertainty that we can be certain He is working. So next time you don’t understand what’s going on, instead of asking, “God! what were You thinking?!?” ask, “God, what are You teaching me?”