[Membersandfriends] Sunday, August 29, 2004

Sat Aug 28 22:02:04 PDT 2004

The Upper Room Daily Devotional -- E-mail Edition
Brought to You by Upper Room Ministries
Sunday, August 29, 2004

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THE UNLIKELY MESSENGER
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Jonah 2:10-3:5 (NRSV)

Then the LORD spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land.  

The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, "Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you." So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

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God said, "Should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city?"
- Jonah 4:11 (NRSV)
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IMAGINE what the scene was like.  I picture Jonah, squishing along the beach, covered in the contents of a fish's stomach, smelling of vomit, his skin and hair bleached white by the fish's stomach acids, seaweed draped around his shoulders.  This man has a message from God?  Yet amazingly, the people of Nineveh listen to this unlikely messenger and turn to God.

I felt just as unlikely.  Because I underwent aggressive cancer treatment, my thinning hair was like straw.  My complexion was so pale and spotted that my sons called me "transparent."  My eyes were sunken because I had lost weight.  I hope I didn't look as bad as Jonah, but I still couldn't see how God could use me.  Yet God did use me.  Many people listened to what I had to share and rejoiced in God's goodness.

We often have our own very particular ideas about what God's messengers should look like.  Perhaps one of the lessons in the story of Jonah is that it's not the messenger that makes the difference in people's lives; it's the message.  Even when we feel diminished and inadequate, God can still use us to spread the message of love and forgiveness.

Prayer:  Father, thank you that you can use each one of us to bless others.  Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
How can I spread the message of God in my circumstances?

-- Shirley M. Corder (Western Cape, South Africa)

PRAYER FOCUS: Those in cancer treatment

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RELATED READING ...

Using scripture and biblical images, new Upper Room Book WALKING THROUGH THE WATERS offers gentle spiritual guidance to families and friends living with cancer.  Drawing from her husband's battle with lymphoma, author Nancy Regensburger writes a deeply personal book.  She shows that being attentive to one's spiritual life in the midst of illness can bring comfort and healing.  In 15 reflections, Regensburger tells what was meaningful for her and guides readers in ways to sense God's presence during times of uncertainty.
http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/desc.asp?ep_id=30&item_id=39826

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The scripture quotation is from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible, copyright (c) 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.