Supernatural Transformation: Change Your Heart Into God’s Heart (32 page)

Jonah didn’t realize that God was dealing with
his
heart—not just the hearts of the Ninevites. The Lord wanted to transform the prophet’s heart to be like His own heart, and to teach him to “let God be God.” Similar situations occur today. Many people don’t recognize that God is dealing with them to love others in the midst of a circumstance in which they feel they have been unjustly treated, because they think they are in the right and the other people are in the wrong and therefore deserve to be punished by God.

The account in the book of Jonah continues,
“Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god….But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep”
(Jonah 1:5). The crew of the ship eventually discovered that Jonah was the cause of the storm. Jonah told them that if they threw him overboard, the storm would cease. The sailors didn’t want to kill Jonah, but, after trying to row against the storm unsuccessfully, they finally threw him overboard, asking God to forgive them. Instantly, the storm disappeared. (See Jonah 1:6–16.)

Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a storm caused by someone who was trying to run away from God? Is your own rebellion against God creating a storm for the people close to you, so that you are putting them at risk spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically, or financially? Could this be the cause of your marital problems? Could this be the reason your business is on the brink of capsizing? Could this be the explanation for why your ministry or church is unable to stay afloat? When we run away from God and what He has asked us to do, we often cause our own brokenness, affecting not only ourselves but also other people in our life.

2. God Prepared a Large Fish

“Now the L
ord
had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights”
(Jonah 1:17). What was God’s purpose for having a large fish swallow Jonah? He had arranged for Jonah’s temporary confinement there in order to break the prophet’s rebellious will. Jonah spent three full days and nights inside that fish, contemplating his condition and reconsidering his attitude. The fact that Jonah didn’t die inside the fish shows that God was in complete control of the situation. He wanted to bring Jonah to brokenness in order to transform his heart—not kill him. He wanted the prophet to repent and fulfill His will by preaching in Nineveh.

The Scriptures say that, after three days,
“Jonah prayed to the L
ord
his God from the fish’s belly”
(Jonah 2:1). He made a covenant with the Lord, saying,
“I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed”
(Jonah 2:9). Note that Jonah surrendered to God when he believed the end of his life was near; only then did he make a covenant with the Lord. Have you known people who have turned to God only when they came to the very end of the line? Are you in that situation right now?

Imagine Jonah inside the belly of that fish, with its gastric juices and odor! How sad it is that only then did the prophet come to the point where he decided to obey God. Even so, Jonah’s heart still needed additional softening in relation to Nineveh. Perhaps Jonah repented to the extent that he wanted his relationship with God restored—but not fully enough to appreciate God’s mercy toward Israel’s enemies.

Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and proclaimed God’s impending judgment throughout the city of Nineveh. What happened next? The whole city repented, and God spared them. (See Jonah 3:5–10.)
“Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it”
(Jonah 3:10). Jonah was angry with this outcome, telling God that the reason he hadn’t wanted to preach to the Ninevites in the first place was that he knew the Lord would have mercy on them!
“For I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm”
(Jonah 4:2). Following this, Jonah went outside the city of Nineveh and sat down, apparently to see if God might still destroy it. It was a hot day, and Jonah made himself a makeshift shelter from the sun. (See Jonah 4:5.)

3. God Prepared a Worm

The Lord continued to deal with the state of Jonah’s heart by using an object lesson:

And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.
(Jonah 4:6–7)

The plant had given Jonah shade, and he was irritated that the worm had destroyed it. (See Jonah 4:8–9.) Furthermore, in his anger over his assignment to Nineveh, Jonah couldn’t see the fact that the Ninevites were as much God’s creation as the Israelites were. He was more concerned about one plant being ruined than he was about the impending destruction of a whole city of people. He didn’t care that God loved these Ninevites, even though they had been hostile to His chosen people, the Israelites.

4. God Prepared a Scorching Wind

“And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement
[
“scorching”
niv, nasb]
east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live’”
(Jonah 4:8). A “scorching wind” represents a life situation that takes away our strength and/or causes us to feel defeated. God allows such things to occur so that we might reach a point of brokenness in which we will permit Him to transform our heart and straighten our path in life, enabling us to walk once more in His perfect will.

Jonah didn’t understand that God wanted to call the Ninevites to repentance because He knew that they were ignorant concerning Him. The Lord tried to make His prophet understand His mercy toward those whom Jonah considered his enemies:
“You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons
who cannot discern between their right hand and their left
…?
(Jonah 4:10–11). When we are unable to show mercy toward those who attack us out of ignorance, God may break us so we can feel as He feels and love as He loves.

As long as we continue to resist God, He will pursue us and cause us to come to the end of our own strength. We sometimes forget that
“it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”
(Hebrews 10:31). What did Jonah’s rebellion cost him and other people? First, I’m sure it cost him a guilty conscience, which takes a great toll on a person. Second, his delay caused him to waste time and opportunities for serving God. Third, he put the lives of all the sailors on the boat in danger. Fourth, he went through the painful process of being broken. Finally, worst of all, he strained his relationship with God. The cost of rebellion is similar for us—a guilty conscience; missed opportunities for obedience and service to God; the placing of our family, business, possessions, and so forth at risk of spiritual, emotional, mental, or physical harm; the experience of brokenness; and, above all, the fracturing of our relationship with our heavenly Father.

No one can rebel against God without paying a high price.

The following testimony illustrates how God comes to us in our brokenness and invites us to be transformed. Alexander’s heart was full of hate and pain, and he believed that reacting in anger was the way for him to relate to people and situations. He writes, “Ephesians 4:26,
‘Do not let the sun go down on your wrath,’
is a lesson that took me years to learn. More than forty years ago, the spirit of anger took over my life. I was bullied as a child, and the situation became worse after I got eyeglasses. My fellow students would make fun of me by touching my face. I couldn’t express my emotions or let go of them, so I kept them bottled up inside me. I hated the idea of people getting too close to my face.

“Like any situation that is not dealt with, my problem with anger grew. Little by little, I started to think that if anyone were to touch my face, I would fight him, hurt him, or even kill him. Many years passed without anyone knowing of this demonic strength in my life. However, when my children were born, God revealed to me that unless I was delivered, the anger within me, which governed the spirit of murder, would become a generational curse. I wanted deliverance, and, one night, in the church that I formerly attended, I received my deliverance. When the pastor began to pray for me and to cast out that horrible spirit, the power of God immediately moved in my life. It literally felt as if something very heavy was being lifted from my shoulders. At that moment, I knew that I had been liberated and that, by God’s mercy, the curse had been broken in my children’s bloodline. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are free. Thanks to the blood of Jesus, I no longer struggle with anger, and my children will not have to deal with it, either. Thank You, Lord, for my freedom!”

The Breaking Point

Is God getting your attention through the consequences of your sin, through a crisis in your life, or through a sense of conviction in your heart from the Holy Spirit that something is not right in your relationship with Him? If so, what is your breaking point? How long will you wait before responding? Do you want to experience a long process of suffering before surrendering to God? Or, will you make a decision to fully yield to Him right now? The choice is yours! If you return to God, He will receive you.

A person reaches his breaking point when he is ready to surrender and submit to God.

It is often the case that people seek Christ after they reach their breaking point because they know that only a miracle can help them now. The woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment while believing for healing is an excellent example of someone in this situation.
“And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak”
(Mark 5:25–27 niv).

This woman had definitely reached her breaking point, having suffered from a debilitating sickness for more than a decade. She had tried everything she knew to do, and she had spent all her money, to find a remedy—to no avail. Then, she heard about Jesus. She said to herself,
“If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed”
(Mark 5:28 niv). This woman was ready to surrender to Christ because He was her only hope. She had no other alternatives. And when she touched Jesus’ clothes,
“immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering”
(Mark 5:29 niv). And Jesus told her,
“Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering”
(Mark 5:34 niv). The Scriptures are filled with accounts of people who had reached their breaking point and had no other choice but to surrender to God and seek His help.

You know you have reached your breaking point when your only alternative is God.

As long as you feel you have other alternatives, you will not seek the Lord—and you won’t be able to witness God’s powerful hand at work on your behalf. However, once you are broken—once you surrender, give up your will, and trust solely in God with no reservations—He will transform your heart and work powerfully in your life.
“For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones”
(Isaiah 57:15).

A broken heart stops resisting obedience.

Purposes and Blessings of Brokenness

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord”
(2 Corinthians 3:18). The Christian life is one of continuous transformation. God, in His sovereignty, will initiate and/or use the process of brokenness to further transform you into the image and likeness of Christ, so that you will reflect His character and heart. After you have experienced brokenness and have surrendered to God, you will be a different person—more loving, more humble, and more centered on His purpose for your life. You will not be the same person you were before being broken—but you also will not be the person you will become in the future as you continue to yield to God.

Again, transformation is a process that is to continue throughout our life. If we stop allowing God to change us, we will settle for a reality that reflects only the natural realm and is unable to address our deepest needs and problems. Moreover, if we stop advancing spiritually, we will not only become stagnant but will soon begin to take steps backward.

Once we are aware of the reasons for brokenness and its benefits, we should stop complaining about the things we have had to endure. Rather, we should thank God for them. We sometimes ask ourselves, “Why am I going through this suffering? Could I have disobeyed God?” or “Why did God allow this to happen?” Regardless of the cause of our troubles, if we understand the purpose of brokenness, we can use any difficult circumstance as an opportunity to draw closer to God. When we seek the Lord and yield to Him, He begins to transform us.