Parenting: Getting It RightMuestra

DEVOTIONAL

One way to summarize the famous story of Jonah is to simply say, he was moving in the wrong direction. God told him to go one way and he went the other. God told him to go east to Nineveh, but instead he boarded a ship and sailed west toward Tarshish. We all know the rest of the story. God sent a great fish to swallow Jonah, where Jonah resided for three days before being vomited back onshore. Then Jonah went to Nineveh and God used him to speak to the Ninevites.

It's easy to see Jonah’s one-eighty. He knowingly started off in the wrong direction and his bad decision led to a terrible consequence. However, our lives aren’t often as dramatic (have you ever been swallowed by anything?), nor are our crucial decisions always so easy to see. When we find ourselves down the wrong path, it’s often because we’ve made a series of small decisions that have unknowingly led us away from our goal.

Here's where the story of Jonah reveals something wonderful. Jonah’s tale gives us an example of how God treats those who have moved in the wrong direction, whether they intended to or not:

·God provided an escape for Jonah (1:17).

·God listened and responded to Jonah’s prayer for mercy (2:10).

·God blessed Jonah’s obedience (3:10).

·God patiently conversed with his petulant prophet (chapter 4).

You may have moved in the wrong direction as a parent, or in some other area of your life. Like Jonah, you may have knowingly disobeyed God. Or, as all of us do so often, you may have woken up one day and realized you were too far down the wrong path, scratching your head and asking, “How did I get here?”

God provides, listens, responds, and patiently converses with those who move in the wrong direction. God loves you and your children more than you can imagine. Don’t be afraid to turn to him and say, “I don’t know how we got here. Please help me start moving our family in the right direction.”

REFLECTION

Use Jonah’s prayer in today’s reading as a model to pray over your own family. Pray about your distress (v. 2), share your despair with God (v. 6), and then remind yourself of the grace God offers (vv. 8-9).

Are any of your children intentionally moving in the wrong direction? Think about the actions of God in the story of Jonah. Knowing how God responded to Jonah, how will you pray about your child today?

What patterns in your life are moving your family in the right direction? What are you doing which helps your family stay on course?

PRAYER

God, I’m in the belly of the fish with Jonah because of: ________. (Fill in the blank with a distressing situation in your life.) You are a God of grace and new beginnings. Please provide the next steps in this journey. I worship you and I will wait for you, God. Amen.