In the Kitchen

 

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

Jonah 1:1-2 ESV

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Is it not amazing that God chooses to involve us in His work in the world? He does not need us to communicate for Him, for he could easily shout His messages from heaven for all to hear, He could speak to us in the privacy of our homes or communicate to our minds with an inner voice. And He would be better at sharing His message than we ever could be. Not only do we make mistakes when we talk, but our own sinfulness pollutes the message. 

Imagine a father in the kitchen making a breakfast of pancakes. Imagine his young daughter wanting to help. The father allows her. She makes an attempt at reading the directions, though she misses a step and misquotes some of the numbers. She can measure the flour, though the measurement is inaccurate. The child can pour the sugar into the mixing bowl, though one quarter of it spills upon the floor. She can help her father flip a pancake on the griddle, even though it tears in half as the father is more concerned that his girl not burn herself than that he properly overturn the solidifying batter. By joining in the work, the child does not make things easier for the parent. The child gets in the way. The child slows the process. The child even throws off the taste of the meal. 

Even still, the father (if he is not in a rush and bothered by the stresses of life) is full of joy at the child's participation, for participation means learning, it means relationship, it means unity of purpose. And the child beams as she tells her mother that she made breakfast. 

God does not need us to help Him, just as a parent does not need his child in the kitchen. But in His grace, He invites and gifts us to have a part to play. 

An Honour

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah 1:3a

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We live with an incredible honour, though we may not always consider it so. God chooses to use us. While He could do whatever He wanted in our world while we sat on the sidelines as spectators, He not only calls upon us to be involved in His work but gives us the gifts that we need to be effective. "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." (1 Corinthian 12:7). 

Jonah was called by God to be a prophet. However, when he was first told by God to go to the foreign city of Nineveh, he fled. Jonah likely hated the Assyrians because of their legendary cruelty in war and due to the fact that they were a threat to his homeland of Israel. He didn't want them to have the opportunity to turn away from their sin and taste the forgiveness of God. 

We too might flee from the voice of God. Whether He wants us to be a missionary or a Sunday school teacher, a pastor or a greeter; whether He wants us to share our testimony at work or invite a neighbour to church, there are many reasons which might keep us from wholeheartedly obeying the call of God. 

Is there anything God is laying on our hearts that we have been ignoring? Any gifts we have that go unused?