I am a Black Swallowtail Butterfly and I know where to find food and how to protect myself from danger.
“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous. And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.” Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.” So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”Jonah 1:1-17 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/jon.1.1-17.NKJV
Many of us may say I don’t need to read this because I have read and heard this story forever and over and over. And, I would have to raise my hand.
But, did I hear it? Did I see it? I didn’t. I sung the praises of the mystical thought of a man in the Belly of a Fish for many years. Wonder what I was really thinking? An Exotic Fish? A bad translation? “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”
In my reading these scriptures today I saw one answer from Jonah that might answer all my questions. Yes, vs 9 Jonah tells the purpose of his story I would think, “I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
How do we identify ourselves when asked! Or, when we are seen?
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That is a beautiful butterfly in the picture above! 🥰 Sara has asked, “How do we identify ourselves when asked! Or, when we are seen?” I would have to say that I usually identify myself by speaking my name. Now,……the other question is “when we are seen?” ……………This is the “real” question, in my thinking,???? What do people see me doing, saying, or how do I handle life situations that occur? I sure wished I could say that my actions, words, and behavior ALWAYS identifies me, as a Christian. However, I have to be honest and say that sometimes, I find myself having to ask the Lord for forgiveness, and work at turning away from sinful ways and being obedient to God’s teachings. 🙏
Tammy, the essence of your ID is refreshing for me and I imagine many others. We are so blessed to know God and that He is the God of Land and Sea and us too!
I awoke with having Jonah’s behavior on my mind. In today’s communication about Jonah making a safe voyage by the big fish catch and the sailors safe to shore as well. I would say what is wrong with that man, Jonah, to do such a silly thing next?
He escaped the rough seas and then made the trip God had given him to do. He did a great job and needed a standing ovation, he got more than that because the people listened to him and obeyed God.
God’s compassion for the very people Jonah didnt like got to him and he went on a self-pity/ angry party all alone. God had to furnish him a little shade to save him again, Then show him no shade. I mean talk about having to ask forgiveness more than once to learn some hard lesson that might show a form of spiritual blindness we might have. Jonah in my way of thinking sure needed a lot of compassion himself. And, me too!
Tammy gave words that helps with my identity as well; “I have to be honest and say that sometimes, I find myself having to ask the Lord for forgiveness, and work at turning away from sinful ways and being obedient to God’s teachings.”I like the final question God asked Jonah and it’s one that might be asked of us today as we pray for nations on our daily TV of thousands being killed in wars. Our own nation’s threat to obliterate a whole nation. (Jonah 4:11) God’s question?
“Should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”
Sara, you said, “Many of us may say I don’t need to read this because I have read and heard this story forever and over and over. And, I would have to raise my hand.”
I also raise my hand as I had never thought or understood this story in the way you explained it here on the blog until I read it today. To me, this is a new revelation to my blind eyes and mind. I had to go back and take a look at the previous blog and found myself in the title. “In the garden-Blind but now I see! Seeing but now I’m blind?” I find my identity tied to ‘a garden’. Why? Because I garden; have a ‘title’ and occupation related to gardens/horticulture; and use God given gifts in that area. But that is a far cry from what I learned in the blog today. Jonah was asked, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”. Jonah’s identity, it looks to me, was not in his occupation or where he came from or who he was related to or what titles he had. It seems as I read the scripture posted that his identity was found in God and who He was, not who Jonah was. Jonah didn’t talk about himself, he talked about God.
The mariners, it seems, did not know or identify with the One and Only true God of Jonah as they said, “your God”. But apparently, from my understanding of what Sara writes, is that all changed as a result of Jonah’s identity and his words and focus on God and Who He is. For soon they were crying, “We pray, O Lord”….and then , “Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.“.
So, back to “In the garden-Blind but now I see! Seeing but now I’m blind?” Through God’s Amazing Grace, I have been found. I sometimes think I see but then I realize, through blogs like this one and others here at the Lily, that I can’t see, and especially can’t see from God’s perspective….since His thoughts are so much higher. Thank the Lord, that we can read and study here at the Lily, in order to see more clearly; repent and then apply. I would agree with Tammy, “I find myself having to ask the Lord for forgiveness, and work at turning away from sinful ways and being obedient to God’s teachings.”
Seeing Jonah in a new light, and being directed to what he said (for probably the first time even though I had read it many times), “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”, seems to say to me that he and his identity is found in God and in His power and majesty and authority. And that reminds me of a scripture that was the cry of Paul’s heart and I would like to be the cry of my heart, …“and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;…” Phil 3:9
Thank you, Sara for posting this blog and the beautiful picture of the butterfly, flying in freedom, being itself.