"On Kingdom Assignment; Handling Kingdom Business"

Jonah 1:11-12 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹¹ So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm ^[a]for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. ¹² He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm ^[b]for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.”

There are moments when you realize that the storms in your life have rippled into the lives of other people; family, covenant brothers, covenant sisters, those who even look up to you. You realize that you have become the toxic person in the situation. I’m sure many of us don’t conclude that our problems could negatively impact those we are surrounded by, but you’d be surprised what can happen when you are silent about some issues. Recently I have learned of a condition called pre-hypertension. It’s caused by stress that is built up which can lead to other issues that can be avoided. Handling issues yourself is never the proper response especially if you are a child of God. Our disobedience, our pride, our fear, our inability to communicate, and sometimes our own search to fill voided areas in our lives can cause us to fall into varies trails.

It like the story of Jonah, he fled from the presence of God. We have been there as young anointed people, many times we have tried to escape the calling, anointing, even the gifts on our life because of the suffering, the adversary, the antagonizing criticism that we endure year after year. Of course, it can be the personal experiences that we have endured in our past, maybe even things what we struggle with in our present. The road can take us down a path of uncertainty and sometimes outside the will of God. Our need to want to fit in. We try to disguise ourselves as if God hasn’t already marked us, especially those who are chosen.

After all of that running, we can become toxic, so toxic that we must come to terms with the only way the storm will pass those we’ve infected is to jump; in Jonah’s case, be thrown overboard. Here is the good news we serve a God of more than just a second chance. We then must seek the mercy of God, the forgiving power of God, and the grace of God. Easier said than done? I would differ. Repent, walk uprightly before the presence of God and become the messenger that He has called you out to be. He is the God that still restores.

~ PastorJNHJ_