He is so good at teaching that he specialises in kids who have all sorts of problems. Young children who have experienced extreme trauma in their young lives, and who have all sorts of huge difficulties coping with going to school at all.
Sam loves his job and really puts a lot of work into preparing for his special classes each evening, and spends nearly all of the school holidays preparing for what is to come.
I know he has experienced all sorts of problems teaching at school, and yet he really enjoys what he does. I doubt if it is everybody's cup of tea, but he really does find this special Ed a real experience and finds it extremely fulfilling.
Not everybody would look forward to what life belts out for them, but Sam really does.
I'm so reminded of lots of things about a good old prophet from way back in the Old Testament. Jonah!
What can we know about this extraordinary fella? Well, the first thing I might add is that Jonah, like everybody who was ever born here on earth, was just an ordinary guy, living his life, BUT there was one difference between him and me.
Jonah knew that the God he knew was an equal opportunity God. The same God we worship today. He doesn't care what language we speak or what country we are from. He created us all, and He desires that we all have a personal relationship with Him.
Good old Jonah loved God deeply, but he wasn't always on board with God's plan
So,,,Jonah was all loving and deeply committed to God UNTIL one day God spoke to Jonah (not sure how but He did), and He told old Jonah to get himself across to Nineveh and do his duty and tell them that God is the Creator of the Universe and to make sure that all of them turn to Him.
UMMM Thought Jonah "I don't think so, God! - The Ninevites? Ummmm NO! Way! They would have to be one of the worst lot of people ever to step foot on earth. They are gruesome and truly horrible! And they certainly didn't deserve to hear the Good News. But why would God want them to hear it anyway?"
Poor old bloke was stuck! He loved God and wanted to do what God wanted him to do - "BUT NINEVAH!! NO! I can't possibly do that!"
Jonah made his escape - he ran away from God - he was terrified. Here were the Ninevites, the most vicious group of people around at that time. They would certainly make an example of Jonah
The Ninevites lived in what we know as the Ancient Assyrian Capital, now modern-day Mosul, Iraq. They were a very powerful, extremely wealthy (because of all the countries and cities they exploited and took slaves from), a constantly brutal civilisation that flourished around 6000 years BC.
They were highly known for their constant military conquests and, more so, their intense idol worship.
So, I can really understand Good Old Jonah's reaction to God. "I can't possibly do this," was his reaction. Nineveh, renowned throughout the known world at that time as THE most outrageous place on earth.
Looking at Jonah at that time, I must admit that I certainly can see where he was coming from. He desperately tried to escape from God and not go to Nineveh. I think I may have done exactly the same. WOW!
Jumping on board the boat and going where he couldn't care less, Jonah sort of felt, I guess, sad in a way because he loved God and really wanted to do what He said.
Jonah saw the light in his heart and mind and came up top and told the captain and the crew to throw him overboard, and the storm would cease. The crew said NO! but eventually they did, and the storm immediately ceased.
Over Jonah went, boots and all, down, down, down, sinking quickly as you may imagine, and of course, the waves and storm suddenly ceased. Jonah must have thought, "Well, this is the end," and just as he would have been thinking that, this huge fish thing (they say whale, but hard to imagine) opened its huge mouth and gulped Jonah down.
He ended up in the belly of the giant creature - hard to imagine what he must have been going through - the smell alone would have been too much to bear.What makes Jonah's own testimony unusual is that it came while he was stuck in the digestive system of a large fish thing. If we think for just a moment about what that would be like. He was stuck there three long days in the slimy, stinky, pitch-black darkness, hardly able to breathe at all, circling slowly round and round the sea with no inkling of when this disaster was going to cease, if at all.
Yet even though Jonah didn't know how things would play out, he recognised that his situation, as unique as it was, was part of God's answer to his prayer.
The whole thing makes me wonder, "Can I trust God? Can you trust God in the same way about our current situations?"
Anyway, three days later, the poor old sea monster must have been feeling awfully woozy and ended up throwing up Jonah pretty much right on the shore of where Nineveh was.
Jonah bravely went to Nineveh (hope he had a wash) and there he stood telling everyone about the very love of God and also the outcome if they didn't turn to Him. He must have been astounded when they fully accepted what he was saying and turned to God.
It's amazing, really, that according to history, Nineveh (now Iraq) was later renowned for its temporary repentance following Jonah's preaching!
You know. We all have to repent. We all have to come to God and ask Him to rule our lives and for God to take charge. Does that mean we will never make any mistakes? No, it doesn't, but what it does do is that we can constantly come to God and ask His forgiveness.
This is from John Bevere.
"Repentance was never meant to be a one-time moment we look back on. It's a daily posture that keeps our hearts responsive to God.
Grace doesn't remove our need to turn toward Him. It empowers us to do it. Repentance is how we stay aligned, humble, and free. It's not about earning God's love. It's about continually responding to it.
A transformed life isn't marked by a single prayer, but by a steady willingness to obey, surrendered and be changed."
God bless you this week. See you next time
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