In my studies this week, I read about how God had to go ahead of Jonah to prepare the hearts of the Ninevites to receive the Word of the Lord. Two plagues ravaged their home, and then God orchestrated their view of a total eclipse of the sun soon after. These events struck fear into the hearts of a people who then heard what was only a five-worded Hebrew message—“In 40 days Nineveh will be overthrown!” Kind of a strange message, I thought. And yet it was enough to cause every single person, their King included, to turn to God in repentance in a single day?! That is why this is considered the greatest revival in all of human history. No other revival of this magnitude has ever occurred before or since. Just because of one man. And one act of obedience.
God set Jonah up to win. Jonah just had to say “yes” and obey. Sometimes we wonder whether our simple “yes” and daily acts of obedience will have any significance at all. The Word shows us that we can have confidence that His answer is always, “Yes!” right back at us. One act of discipline, one step towards an unexpected destination, one choice that can change a destiny: it just takes one.
As my first of 31 weeks in the “70 in 7” Project unfolded, day by day, the Lord gave me special extensions of His great grace. On Monday night, a nutritionist at my church, Katie, read my newly-public blog and immediately offered any help I might need. Tuesday she showed up at my house to make her offer official! So I asked her to teach me how to cook healthy meals for myself and my family, since I don’t know the first thing about cooking—outside of scrambled eggs and pasta! Katie’s already planning to comb through my kitchen to help me make sense of my clueless chaos.
That same night, another good friend, Hollie, visited and offered her support, not the least of which was an introduction to her recent acquaintance, Melanie. Melanie and I spent an hour on the phone on Thursday night comparing our stories of multiple surgeries, heaps of health problems, and how the Lord has and was rescuing us even as we spoke! Melanie has offered to coach me in the realm of nutritional supplements to make sure my body has all the energy it needs to be healthy and have healthy weight loss. She also has experience as a personal trainer and wants to see me cross that marathon finish line some day! But there was still more to come!
The sunny weather promised to breathe freshly on our souls this weekend. We were glad to spend some family time together at the park on Saturday morning. Following lunch, I was overwhelmed with hope as Katie, Hollie (and her husband Russ) and Melanie all met together in my home to discuss and learn from one another, in addition to showing their great support for me and my project. Wow.
Finally, today, Sunday, I received my “Writing Boot Camp” welcome packet. You see, a family member is sponsoring me to join this six-week online course for those who need to be better “disciplined” in the area of writing. The course begins…tomorrow!
God has set me up to win too.
I confess, I thought H and I were in this together…but alone… Alone in our combined but lacking knowledge, alone to champion our changing—alone in our efforts to swim upstream in a river that has been running rapids in our lives for over 30 years, forcefully and seemingly unstoppable. And then, in the quiet, there’s a gentle knock on the door, and we hesitate but a moment, then open…to see a brand new future unfolding…
The Art of Choosing True Life 