What happens in our life has a meaning! (Monday readings)

Luke 11:29-32

As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, “This evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah. 30 What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God. 31 “The queen of Sheba will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen. 32 The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.

Food for thought!

There is something very revealing in this text. Jesus says, What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God. Remember the old story of Jonah. This man was sent to the great of city of Niveveh and preach against it. But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He boarded a ship and, no sooner had the ship took sail than a violent storm arose so much so that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. Meanwhile Jonah was deeply asleep.

The captain of the ship went to him and said, How can you sleep in a situation like this one? Get up and call on your god. Who are you, after all? Later they found out that Jonah had run away from his mission. As the Sea was getting rougher, theyasked Jonah what they could do to him to make the sea calm down. He replied, Pick me up and throw me into the sea, and it will calm down. They did so, and the sea calmed. It is better for one man to die in order to save all.

 When Jonah got into the waters she was shadowed by a big fish, which held him in its belly for three days before it vomited him on land, to the place he had run from. Now, Jesus says that what happened to Jonah was not void of meaning: What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him.

 The same happened to Jesus himself. All that happened to him was intended: What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God. What does all this mean, if not that what happens to us has a meaning? Everything we go through, all our ups and downs, all our struggles, our conquests, our failures, our victories have and are a message from God to us and to our people. And the message is that God sent us into this world; God knows all about us.

As the Bible says, For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen. (Rom 11:36) You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not at all surprised by your birth. In fact, he expected it. Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you!

God prescribed every single detail of your body. He deliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your hair, and every other feature. He custom-made your body just the way he wanted it. He also determined the natural talents you would possess and the uniqueness of your personality. Because God made you for a reason, he also decided when you would be born and how long you would live. He planned the days of your life in advance, choosing the exact time of your birth and death. The Bible says, “You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your Book!” (Psalm 139:16)

(Warren, Rick (2008-09-09). The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Zondervan. Kindle Edition.)