A Downward Spiral

But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Jonah 1:3

We all know what its like to be headed in the wrong direction. “Down” is not a good direction. It speaks of moving away from God and life getting worse and worse. The two go hand in hand. When we ignore the “upward” call of God for us, then life inevitable gets worse.

Jonah was going downhill fast. Because he did not want the Ninehvites to experience God’s grace, he ran from God. Notice the ensuing results.

• He went down to Joppa
• He went down to into the boat
• He went down into the lowest part of the boat
• He went down into the sea
• He went down into the belly of the whale

Finally Jonah felt like he was in hell. Sheol. He was down about as low as one can go.

Then Jonah prayed! “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me (Jonah 2:1). This was the turning point. This was when Jonah ceased going in a downward spiral, a downward free-fall, to an ascension. He began rising up and heading in an upward direction. Eventually this turn around lead to one of the greatest revivals in history!

Direction is everything. I would rather be at the bottom headed back up, than at the top headed down. The next time you sense you are in a downward spiral, humble yourself and pray. That will be your turning point and things will begin to look up!

Today’s prayer: “Lord help me to look up to you so I can go up with you.”

Merry Christmas!!
Pastor Gary