When God's Commands are Unpleasant

“I can’t do that.”

“But God told you…”

“Maybe I heard wrong. God would never ask me to do that.”

Perhaps these thought swirled in Jonah’s mind as he hailed a ship headed for Tarshish. The Lord had asked him to do the one thing he abhorred. The one assignment he refused to undertake. The one task he would not do.

Preach to the Ninevites.

Those wicked, violent, rich Gentiles. No. He would not do it. He would go in the complete opposite direction: to Tarshish. But as we all know, Jonah’s plans were abruptly reversed by a mighty storm and a great fish with an appetite for stubborn prophets. After several miserable nights in the fish’s belly, wrestling with God, Jonah eventually did what the Lord commanded him to do: preach to those wicked Gentiles.

How often we read this story and chuckle at Jonah’s foolishness in trying to run from the Lord. “What was he thinking?” we ask pretentiously. But have we ever run from the Lord’s will? Has the Lord ever commanded you to do the very thing you loathed doing? How did you respond? The Lord made such a request of me, and my reaction was not unlike Jonah’s.

Book of the Month: Mothers of Famous Men

Summary:

     Why do some children grow to be highly respected and godly individuals while others amount to nothing more than wayward miscreants? It can arguably be stated that it is because of the loving care, or lack thereof, provided by their mothers. This book is a collection of short biographies focusing on the Christian character of the mothers of famous men. The author states in the introduction, "My purpose in writing this book was not to extol a few mothers but to pay tribute to the countless number of unselfish, devoted mothers everywhere."

Blogiversary Survey Results!

     Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the reader survey last week! Here's what y'all had to say:

     Apparently, the advice I'd heard from other bloggers was true: the more you involve yourself in other's blogs, the more likely it will be for others to find your blog.

     Personally, I would've rated my blog's layout and colors a 3. So I'm not sure if y'all are being nice, or if I need to be content. :P

     This question was the main reason I wanted to do a survey. Now I know what kinds of posts I should focus on creating.

     The question following this one was "How do you think this blog could improve?" I got quite a variety of answers with most saying they loved the way it currently is, others saying they'd love to see more and longer posts, and one person suggesting funner fonts.

     Thanks once again to everyone who voted and voiced their opinions! They were duly noted and I will be seeking to implement them in future blog posts. :D

2 Year Blogiversary + Reader Survey

     Yesterday was the two year anniversary of this blog. Woohooo!!! Has it really been two years?? Anyways, I thought it would be fun to host a survey (after all, who doesn't like giving their opinion). The following poll has only five questions so it won't take you too long to complete. I'd really really appreciate the feedback!

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