God had a job for Jonah. He told Jonah, “Get up. Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach against it, for its people’s evil way has come up before me.” Jonah 1:2 (EHV)
However, Jonah wasn’t listening to God. Oh, he heard what God said, but he wasn’t going to do what God wanted him to do. “He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and boarded the ship to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah 1:3 (EHV)
How often haven’t we reacted in the very same way? We listen to what God says and then do what we want to do. Like Jonah, we try to go our own way, but a loving Father in heaven graciously intervenes. He intervened for all sinners of all time when he sent his Son Jesus to be our Substitute. God was intervening on our behalf when Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to God’s Law and then suffered and died to pay for all of our sins.
A loving God still intervenes in the lives of sinners to this day. It may be an illness or even a pandemic which God uses to lead us to his Word. It may be an extended stay in a hospital or treatment/rehabilitation facility following surgery or an injury. It may be incarceration in a county jail or state prison. Whenever and however God intervenes in your life, listen to his Word! Listen with a repentant heart when he speaks to you about your sins and when he tells you about your Savior, Jesus! Listen and trust in Jesus as your Savior from sin!