Look Again (Jonah 2:4)

“Then I said, I am cast out of your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.”

The temple of Christ-crucified is where we look when His presence is gone. When we have sinned, and the guilt is upon us, the shame too, then we believe on Jesus Christ in the absence of comfort; we believe because it is true, being not ashamed of the gospel, though sin has wrecked my hopes in self and stolen comforts and joy - (Is 57:17-18) “For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on forwardly in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.”

Sin is a beast that makes me regret my decisions, and yet Christ is a Rock that is sure to hold the guilty. Be I as vile as David and Bathsheba, Solomon and his idols, Lot and his fornication with his daughters, or Paul going to the Jews when he’d been sent to the Gentiles, either way, believing on Christ (coming to Him by faith) is going to produce in me what He promised. If you want Christ in His glory for who He is, He says, “Come and see”, and you shall find (John 1:38-39).

I didn’t say, “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”, but He did, and having said thus, though I may be as evil and rebellious as Jonah, just as sure as He is God and faithful to His Word, I shall be saved as His word says (Matt 11:28).

I might not enjoy comforts now, but comfort is NOT the course of the Christian – “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporary; but the things which are not seen are eternal (Acts 9:16; II Cor 4:17-18). Comfort comes as promised, but we receive the joy of believing after faith confesses Christ for all, seeing salvation in Him, for believers.

God is great in His work, so when He humbles us, then we look for Him to lift us up. He says, “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (James 4:9-10). When we cannot read, pray, and do the things that we should, rather than giving up in despair, etc, look again to the shed blood of Christ for power to do good. He has given the door.