Running into Mercy

When God speaks to us, His word disrupts our lives to lead us toward greater freedom.If our self-prescribed loyalties or fears are keeping us back from what God’s doing, He will confront them so we can move beyond them.When God moves toward us, it is to move us closer to Him and to those He loves.When God’s word sounds like a threat to our lives, we naturally want to resist and run.When we insist on trying to run our own lives, we will try to run from God.We may like the idea of God’s purpose for our lives, but we cannot fulfill His purpose and keep our throne. Fear tries to convince us we’ll be happier running our own lives, but without God, it’s really a slow death.Even when we try to run away from God, He doesn’t stop running toward us.Signs of God’s mercy to Jonah…When Jonah was asleep to God’s voice, He used the storm to wake him up.God used an ‘unbeliever’ to convict the heart of the ‘believer.’When Jonah deserved death for his rebellion, God provided the rescue.What does the fish symbolize? God’s endless mercy.Even when we run from God like He’s a threat, His mercy pursues us like a Father.