Jonah…or Mary?

So, I’m still wrestling with why we are facing devastating financial wreck.  I know that the why may never be answered, but I also know that God is in complete control of the situation and that He has a purpose to it.  So I wondered, am I Jonah or am I Mary?

Jonah screwed up.  He was told, flat out, what he was supposed to be doing and he not only didn’t, he tried to run away from God to get out of doing it.  After much trial and tribulation (storm at sea, choosing to be tossed overboard to save the rest of the ship, and oh yeah…those three days in the belly of a fish), he finally decided to do what God wanted him to do.  His heart wasn’t in it, but God’s work was accomplished through him anyway and thousands were saved from destruction.  He still didn’t get it, even after he saw the results, so God had to explain it to him a little more clearly. 

Then we have Mary.  Sweet, sweet Mary.  She was just doing what God told her to do.  She was where she was supposed to be, when, WHAM, here she is, super-pregnant and needing to travel from Galilee to Bethlehem.  I’m pretty sure she didn’t enjoy that trip, having been that pregnant seven times myself.  She didn’t do anything wrong, she was obeying God, yet what did she have to show for it but a long, bumpy trip, labor and birthing in a cave surrounded by animals, and nothing but rags to warm her baby with.  The baby who God promised would be the Savior of the world.

So, am I a Jonah or a Mary?  Did I make a wrong turn somewhere?  Am I not living in God’s will, and he is trying to get my attention and my humility to get me back where I’m supposed to be?  Or am I a Mary, living in His will, doing my level best to stay there, and for some reason that I won’t know until a future date, I need to go through this struggle?

I gotta believe that I lean more on the Mary side.  I’m not saying I’m perfect (particularly perfectly humble), but I don’t know of any glaring God-told-me to-do-it-and-I-didn’t situations.  I do know that I thought for sure we were where God wanted us.  He wanted us to move up here, start going to a new church, and raise our babies in this area, in this home.  Because He is so perfect, so powerful, and so passionate, I know that He has some wonderful things up His sleeve.  I have to admit, I don’t like the donkey ride, the stable, nor the animals.  But, I’m also thankful that it isn’t the belly of a fish. 

I’m trusting in God that He is putting us where He needs us to be in order to do His will here on earth.  Just like He did Mary and Joseph, when He caused them to leave Galilee to go to Bethlehem for a census, just so His Son could be born there and fulfill the prophecy of Micah.

Thank you, Lord, for your grace and your provision.  Thank you that you love us.  Thank you for your Son.