The Process of God ordained afflictions

UV 383/10,000 The process of God ordained affliction Jonah 1 v 17 Jon 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights The Lord who created the great whale could prepare it to swallow Jonah. It was the means of deliverance for Jonah who would otherwise have drowned. The Creator Lord caused the natural elements to rise to fulfill His supernatural purpose. Jonah had consented to the sailors throwing him overboard to save themselves from the tempest. He had given up hope of escaping the wrath of God. But, the Lord was merciful and caused the whale to save his life. But, He did not instantly cause the whale to eject Jonah but allowed him to remain in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights. These 72 hours were a time of disciplining and shaping of the character of Jonah. The heat of the whale’s belly was necessary to melt the hardness and rebellion of his heart. During the three days and three nights, Jonah reflected on his life and purpose, how he had failed to do the bidding of the Lord to go and cry against the wickedness of Nineveh. He prayed to the Lord and cried out to Him. The Lord did a work of change in his heart during these three days and nights. If deliverance is taking time to show up in the tempests of our lives, it might be because the Lord has to teach us a lesson or two. Similarly, we too go through a process of God ordained affliction. Jesus too spoke of His identification with Jonah in His death and burial in the belly of the earth for three days and three nights for a work of change in the hearts of all mankind to make it right with God. It might be a good exercise to similarly cry out from our hearts for three days and nights for different challenges and areas of breakthrough we are looking for in our lives. At the end of the three days and nights, the Lord caused the whale to vomit Jonah out safely on the shore. He was now ready to testify of the Lord’s judgement to the people of Nineveh. At the end of three days and nights, Jesus was resurrected from death and received all power in Heaven and on earth. Let us bring one issue before the Lord in a focused manner for 72 hours, crying out for help, desperate for God, hoping for deliverance and the Lord who ordained that challenge will also provide the breakthrough. Prateep V Philip