Really?

Really? Rhetorical, leading and clarifying, this is a great way to indicate direction, meaning and purpose.

There is a story in the Bible about a guy named Jonah. Jonah was a normal guy - nothing too crazy. God asked Jonah to go into a city known as Nineveh, to a people who's hearts were far from God. Enter the adverb.

Initially, Jonah poses the word really in the form of a question. Seeking clarification, I can imagine that Jonah might have assumed that God must have been mistaken, or that He had His people groups mixed up. Oops. How embarrassing...for Jonah. Surprised at God's response, Jonah switched his tone. Enter the adjective.

Trying to describe the noun through adjectives - a person (Ninevehites), place (Nineveh), or thing (a lost people), I can almost hear Jonah asking God as though he might not have understand Him the first time. REALLY? Go to Nineveh? Speak to the Nenevehites? REALLY? This is where Jonah is instrumental in the communication breakdown. You see, God was clear with his directives for Jonah, but not on the same page in regards to the actions required of him, Jonah is asking God as though He might not have totally understood what He was asking of Jonah. And so the story goes.

Jonah ended up running from God; His direction and calling on Jonah's life. Jonah ends up on a boat, tossed overboard and swallowed up by a big fish, eventually coughed up three days later...

Really?

What God is showing me in and amongst my really moments, is that while it's okay to ask questions, my repsonsibility is to be obedient to God's leading and direction in my life. My friend Dan Jester said it best this summer while speaking at a Senior High camp. In one of his messages Dan used the term, "First say okay. Then obey".

While I may not totally understand or even agree with some of the directions I sense God leading in my life, my role is to first say okay and then to obey.

Really!