Massage Anyone?

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Cor. 4:16-17

A few months ago, Bruce and I and his brother and sister-in-law rented a condo for a week at the beach in celebration of both couple’s 25th wedding anniversary. Crystal and I decided to sign up for a massage for a relaxing afternoon. There were thunderstorms raging outside so we thought this would be the perfect afternoon to relax and enjoy a massage. Boy, were we wrong! What I signed us up for was a Swedish massage not knowing what that was. For the next hour I laid there trapped while this skinny little woman with torturous elbows drilled them into the muscles in my back which consisted of knots. At one point I felt nauseous and on the inside was screaming for relief from the discomfort of my predicament. In looking back I know that the knots needed to be removed for the benefit of my entire back.

This is God at His best as He massages the knots in our spiritual muscles with discomfort and works on us as He is developing us for our spiritual best. He provides situations for us in which we can be transformed and renewed to better suit His purposes for our lives.

I am realizing as I am in the ‘belly of the fish’ that there are elements of my heart that need to be realigned with the heart of God. He has me here to consider heart changes and past wounds that need to be worked out of my life. I am in a season of realignment and will be more effective in future ministries because of the work He is doing now.

Jonah was preserved in the belly of the fish as God worked on his heart to reconcile and realign. God provided the fish as a means to preserve Jonah for his future ministries, not to punish him. God never gives up on us and never aborts His purposes for us.

A heart can only be permanently changed when we allow God to massage the knots away and engage in the realignment of our heart with God’s heart. What we lack in the fruit of the Spirit will be exposed and massaged in the belly of the fish.