Jonah 1:17
But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. (NIV84)

Recently, a man described to me how he spent many years running from God. He preferred partying to piety and never could shake using alcohol to have a good time. He’d wanted to leave beer behind but never did until he had a strange reaction to a common antibiotic. Beer is now in the rearview, and God is using him to bring people to Jesus on staff at his church. He’s living a dream he never could have imagined, due in large part to a strange reaction to a common medicine.

If you were writing his story, you could word it similarly to Jonah’s from Jonah 1:17: "But the Lord provided a bad reaction to an antibiotic, and he can no longer tolerate beer." The Lord’s provision surfaces in strange ways sometimes. Romans 2:4 makes it clear that God’s kindness is intended to lead us to repentance. The Lord’s kindness isn’t always gentle, though.

God had Jonah’s attention before he was swallowed by a big fish, but what his time in there did was lead him to repentance. Biblically, the word repentance means to change your mind. Jonah changed his mind from running from God to fulfilling God’s command because he hit rock bottom inside a massive fish. I’ve heard many people talk about their rock-bottom moments being ugly and messy yet a blessing from God. They see it as a blessing because, without it, they’d never have come to their senses and followed God.

Tuesday’s Reflection

When was your rock bottom moment? Did you see God’s provision in the mess? If you’ve never had a hard fall thank God and ask him to reveal anything you need to repent from today.