"Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them." Jonah 2:8
That scripture just recently jumped out of my Bible and slapped me in the face. What was God wanting us to know when He instructed Jonah to write this in his letter? To find out, let's check the context.
So Jonah was given a specific instruction by God, go to Ninevah and preach against it. He didn't want to do that, and who could blame him? This was their sworn enemy and God wanted Jonah to go alone. Jonah decided to do his own thing. He went the opposite direction toward Tarshish. He hopped on a boat and was set for smooth sailing. Instead, a storm came and threatened to break the boat into pieces. The other passengers began to pray to all kinds of gods. Eventually they found a sleeping Jonah. He told them that it was his fault this great storm came. "Throw me into the sea and it will be come calm." He told them.
When he was in the sea, a fish came a swallowed him up. But not before he was on the brink of death. When he was in the belly of that huge fish, Jonah recognized who sent that fish to rescue him from his desperate situation. It was God and God alone. It led him to make two statements in Jonah chapter 2.
1. Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them.
2. Salvation comes from the Lord.
So what does Jonah tell us? I can hear him clear his throat a little as he makes that statement. "Listen, I want you to know something. When I was desperate, when I was in despair, when I was drowning with no hope. There was only One that could save me." It wasn't candy apple red with shiny new rims. It wasn't a stack of anything green with a man's face on it. It wasn't in a glass long-neck bottle. The only thing that saved him was God. That led him to make the 2 statements.
All through my college years, I struggled. I knew what I was supposed to do, but rarely did I do it. I strayed away from God and chased after the wrong things. Much like Jonah, it took the storm for me to realize that I was wasting my time by pleasing other people and not my God who loved me enough to send His own Son to die for me. My storm was in the form of devastating loss of a loved one, who happened to be my high school sweetheart. You know the type of relationship, where you have your whole future planned out... Then in a matter of 4 weeks, that loved one went from going to the emergency room to entering the gates of Heaven. I was torn apart. It was the worst storm I have ever been in. No idol was there to save me. I realized then what God was telling me in Jonah chapter 2. Those who chase idols, chase the wrong thing. They don't have power. They can't save. They can't comfort. Only God can do that.
The second statement he made in Jonah 2 came to life in my life. Salvation only comes from the Lord. He's the only One that can carry that kind of burden. Why did I waste so much time in the world? I don't know, but if I can tell you now, PLEASE DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. God has a perfect plan for you life. Don't run from that. He wants to save all of us TODAY!!
The good news for me is this... GOD WAS NOT DONE WITH ME. He restored me when I repented to Him. He's given me a wonderful future. He's given me a testimony to share, a story to tell. I want to tell it so that maybe someone out there struggles with that feeling that I know what I'm doing, I'm not supposed to be doing. Don't waste your time by chasing those idols in your life. ONLY THE LORD SAVES!