Shifting

"From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land."

Jonah 2:1,10 NIV

Growing up I always looked forward to my first driving experience, my fascination with automobiles was quite interesting. To be quite honest I have always possessed a keen excitement for cars, even today I still have my collection of a couple hundred hot wheel vehicles. What I always pondered before driving was how do you shift the gears, watching from the back seat each time contemplating the how. Finally, my queries were answered when my oldest sister provided my first lesson, foot the break because it’s shifting time. Shifting is to move or cause to move from one place to another, change in emphasis, direction or focus.

The book of Jonah captures the story of a young prophet who experienced a shift in his life because of his assignment. Jonah is supposed to go to Nineveh and provide a message, he decides I’m going to flee to Tarshish, as result finds himself in the belly of a fish. Chapter two begins with him praying from the belly of the fish and ends with him being vomited up by the fish at the Lord’s command, the question I raise today is how is God shifting you in this season of your life? What did the beginning of chapter 2025 look like and how’s it concluding? Will prayer be found between the start and finish or just complaint? Jonah prayed but did his prayer move the heart of God or did God already plan to pull Jonah out before he prays? These questions that we should raise during shifts in life, we can’t dictate the shifting, but we can determine how we respond to the shifting.