Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today the Holy Spirit wants to help us recognize God’s compassions may appear unorthodoxed.

Today’s scripture, Jonah 1:17 NIV
[17] Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Consider…
Many of us are familiar with the story of Jonah spending 3 days in the belly of a huge fish. However how many of us view the story from the lens of God providing compassion for the judgement that Jonah faced because of his rebellion.

Recall, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach repentance for salvation. However, because of Jonah’s bias against the people of Nineveh, he decided to go the opposite direction to Tarshish. In response to Jonah’s disobedience, God whipped up a severe storm that threatened Jonah’s life along with everyone with him.

This is a good place to pause and point out that others may be caught in the crosshairs of the consequences of our disobedience. Never believe your actions only affect you.

Resuming Jonah’s story, we see that he confessed his sin, and despite his cohorts attempts to spare him from God’s wrath, he was ultimately thrown into the sea to pay the wage of sin, which is death.

But God, because of His rich mercy sent compassion in the form of a huge fish to return Jonah back to where he started. You could say, God’s compassion carried the prodigal son home for a second chance.

Retelling Jonah’s story made me remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:40 (NIV)…
[40] For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jesus stayed in the grave three days to transport us from death, which He died on the cross, to life, which He gave through His resurrection.

Jonah’s testimony also makes me think of Hezekiah Walker’s lyrics…

Show me
All of my wrongs
Forgive me
And make strong
Oh Save me
Restore my song
For You’re the God of a second chance

You gave me
A second chance
You forgave me like only You can
You gave me
A second chance

As the song fades, I am reminded of the unorthodoxed compassion that Jesus showed the woman caught in adultery. Here’s what John 8:3-11 (NLT) says…
[3] As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. [4] “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. [5] The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” [6] They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. [7] They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” [8] Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. [9] When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. [10] Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” [11] “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

Notice, Jesus just shewed the woman’s accusers away by writing in the dirt. Then, rather than asking the woman if she was guilty, He simply asked where her accusers were?

Wait, it just occurred to me that when we get to the pearly gates, God won’t ask us if we’re guilty, He’ll only check the book of life which has the names of those who confessed Christ as Lord and Savior.

There’s another example of God’s unorthodoxed compassion that the Holy Spirit gave me, found in Matthew 14:28-32 (NLT)…
[28] Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” [29] “Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. [30] But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. [31] Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” [32] When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.

In this passage we see how Peter, like many of us, after taking a bold step of faith lost his focus and began to sink in the reality of his circumstances. Notice when Peter began to fear his faith failed him. Yet, Jesus in His compassionate way immediately grabbed him. However, notice Jesus’ words after picking Peter up:

• “You have so little faith”
• “Why did you doubt me?”

I believe Jesus says the same things to us when we succumb to our fears rather than cling to our faith.

This realization hit play on Maverick City’s and Kirk Franklin’s collaboration that says…

Let Him turn it in your favor
Watch Him work it for your good
He’s not done with what He’s started
He’s not done until it’s good

Hello, peace
hello, joy
Hello, love
Hello, strength
hello, hope, It’s a new horizon

And emphasizes…

Fear is not my future
You are (You are), You are (You are)
Sickness is not my story
You are (You are), You are (You are)
Heartbreak’s not my home
You are (You are), You are
(Death is not the end)
Death is not the end
Jesus, You are (You are), You are

These lyrics remind me of 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)…
[7] For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

There’s yet another unorthodoxed compassion I recall God extending. It’s found in Numbers 22:27-33 (NIV)
[27] When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. [28] Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” [29] Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” [30] The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said. [31] Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. [32] The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. [33] The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”

God used a donkey to spare Balaam from His wrath. But that shouldn’t surprise us since He used His Lamb (Jesus Christ) to spare us from His eternal wrath. John 1:29 (NIV) testifies…
[29] The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

And Ephesians 2:3-5 (NLT) clarifies…
[3] All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. [4] But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, [5] that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

Jesus Christ is God’s most unorthodoxed unfailing compassion ever. I come to that conclusion based on 1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)…
[9] God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. [10] This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

God loved us so much that He sacrificed His Son’s life so that we could live…if we choose to. That’s what’s crazy to me, Jesus died for everyone, even though everyone wouldn’t choose Him. It’s like God took a shotgun approach to addressing the problem of sin. An innocent man dying for guilty people is unfathomable to me.

Yet 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV) explains…
[21] God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is the reason I say that Jesus is God’s most unorthodoxed compassion ever! And He never fails.

In closing, I realize God’s unorthodoxed compassion to…

• Give a disobedient wayward son a second chance via a fish ride home
• Forgive a woman caught in sin by dismissing her accusing men
• Save a man who stepped out in faith only to sink in fear because he lost his focus
• Spare a man from His wrath via a donkey
• Spare us from His wrath by His innocent Son, the Lamb of God.

…shows us that God’s compassions are not cookie cutter. That’s because as brother Daryl Coley sings…

Sovereign, Sovereign
The Lord my God is Sovereign
He can do whatever He wants to do
He can do whatever He wants to do
When He wants to
God can do whatever He wants to do, How He wants to
Because He’s sovereign, God is God

So don’t be surprised how God shows His compassions to you, just be glad that He does.

Today’s song is…
I Don’t Know Why Jesus Loves Me

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)