Sailing with Jonah (The Positive Side of Being Sick)

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, something caught up with me and left me with a sore throat. I went to the doctor Saturday evening and was given a prescription for several medications, including an antibiotic for the inflammation in my throat.

I felt it best to ask some of the men in the church to do the preaching for me yesterday: Jaime, in the English service; Roberto, for the Sunday School lesson; and José Carlos, at the main worship service. It was a blessing to observe how each one allowed himself to be used by God to bring the Word, showing marked improvement over previous occasions. Although I've had them fill in for me when I was away, this is the first time that I've sat through a whole day of services with them doing the preaching.

Jaime read from the book of Jonah at the beginning of his message, and compared himself to Jonah, always running from the Lord when he was being called on to preach. When I'm away, he asks any visitors if there is a pastor among them who will give the Word that morning. This time my phone call asking for help caught him by surprise, but he decided not to run away from the responsibility. He did very well, and his nerves didn't get the best of him.

When Jonah ran from the Lord, the others on board his ship suffered because of his disobedience. My discomfort is not Jaime´s fault, of course, but if God rocks my boat so Jonah has to get out and follow God's call, that's OK.

I don't have Day 4 of the Ukrainian trip ready yet...we were away all day yesterday, and today I've had the prison meeting, stood an hour and a half in the line at the tax office, and worked on a translation. There have been several responses to the e-mails I sent out notifying folks of the news on the blog, and that's encouraging. One of them pointed out that the contact link above had an error in it, and I have fixed that problem. Please use it and send us a note. May you always find something encouraging and worthwhile when you stop by.