God is Sovereign and Merciful

Class,

We finished our study of Jonah last Sunday and discovered that the book of Jonah is so much more than the story of Jonah and a big fish.

We learned that God wants to reveal himself to us through his word so that we can better relate to him through his attributes.

We did an in-class work study on the attributes of God as revealed through Jonah and came up with the following tally of all four chapters:

10-20 references to God's Sovereignty
10-14 references to God's Mercy
3-7 references to God's Holiness
5-9 references to God's Patience
1 reference to God's Justice

Overall the book of Jonah is a study of God's sovereignty and mercy.

How do these attributes of God relate to your life?

Here is the story from Swindoll's "Getting Through the Tough Stuff" that I promised you some weeks ago.

"When I was an undergraduate at the University of Colorado in 1951, I spent a couple of hours a week reading to a fellow student. His name was John, and he was blind.
One day I asked him how he lost his sight. He told me of an accident that happened when he was a teenager and how, at that point, he had simply given up on life. "When the accident happened and I knew that I would never see again, I felt that life had ended, as far as I was concerned. I was bitter and angry with God for letting it happen, and I took my anger out on everyone around me. I felt that since I had no future, I wouldn't lift a finger on my own behalf. Let others wait on me. I shut my bedroom door and refused to come out except for meals."
The man I knew was an eager learner and an earnest student, so I had to ask what had changed his attitude. He told me this story. "One day, in exasperation, my father came into my room and started giving me a lecture. He said he was tired of my feeling sorry for myself. He said that winter was coming, and it was my job to put up the storm windows. "You get those windows up by suppertime tonight, or else!", he shouted, slamming the door on his way out.
"Well," said John, "that made me so angry that I resolved to do it! Muttering and cursing to myself, I groped my way out to the garage, found the windows, a stepladder, all the necessary tools, and I went to work. They'll be sorry when I fall off the ladder and break my neck, I thought, but little by little, groping my way around the house, I got the job done."
Then he stopped , and his sightless eyes misted up as he told me, "I later discovered that at no time during the day had my father ever been more than four or five feet from my side."
The first assumption is that God is present- not more than an arm's length away-whether we're aware of it or not.

This is a great story of the love of God for his children. Even though you may not see Him, He is always close to us, especially so when we are going through the tough stuff of life.

Next Sunday Tim Meeks will be teaching our lesson from the book of Nahum. I hope that you will be reading ahead so that you can discover what God is trying to teach you.

We will see you Sunday week if God wills,

randy & faye