Meat for the Hungry

     www.dreamstime.com free stock photo    Do you ever think life is hard? Goodness, I do. There are days, even weeks, where everything goes well. I feel God’s presence, hear His voice, learn from His Word, and life flows along like a deep, smooth river. And then there are times I slip on a rug and crash to the floor blindsided by a situation so confusing I just throw up my hands and shout, “What in the world is going on?”   In those moments, I tend to focus on the situation. What did I do to cause this, and how can I fix it? But after a while, I get irritated. If I hurt someone’s feelings by giving my opinion, why am I not entitled to my opinion? And why am I always the one punished? Why can’t that person just shrug it off and forgive?   The Lord allowed me to wallow for a few minutes, and then He said, “Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.” [1]     “Yes, Lord, I’m listening.” ...

Have you ever felt like Jonah? I have, so let me explain. Three and a half months into our nation’s craziness, I’m exhausted with all the doom and gloom. I’m angry with evil people wreaking havoc in our country, and I’ve lost respect for the news media. Do they even report truth anymore? Their political bias is so evident, and their stories seem designed to keep us bound in fear. I’m drowning in mixed emotions. While I can’t imagine the terror Jonah felt being thrown into the ocean and swallowed by a giant fish, I find his words speak to me spiritually. Jonah said, “…floods surrounded me…billows and…waves passed over me…waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; weeds…wrapped around my head…I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever…” [1] After three days and nights of this horrendous ordeal, God caused the fish to spit Jonah out, [2] and he found himself on a sandy beach. The warm sun on hi...