Veggie Tales May be for Children, But the Message is for Everyone

Today I watched the Veggie Tales movie, Jonah, with my children. After I
finished watching it, I was inspired to write this newsletter.

If you have children and you haven’t seen this movie, I highly recommend
that you go and get it. It’s out on DVD and video right now. If you
don’t have children, then you might feel a little silly with a Veggie
Tales DVD in the house. Well, to be honest with you, it’s not THAT great
of a movie that I recommend you go and get it if you don’t have
children, or better yet, young children, who would appreciate it. But if
you do have young children, I highly recommend it. Also, I recommend ALL
of the Veggie Tales videos. They are great and inspirational for
children and they always teach a lesson. They focus on different stories
of the Bible in a way that children can really appreciate.

Anyway, in the movie, the Asparagus, Jonah, (yes, all of the characters
are vegetables, hence the name Veggie Tales) was given a message from
God to deliver to the city of Ninevah. But Jonah didn’t want to go to
the city because the people in the city were bad and hit each other with
fish (OK, I said it was Veggie Tales, you ‘all). So, Jonah decided to
run away and not do what God wanted him to do, and that is when all his
troubles began.

Isn’t that what happens in our lives? We get a clear message from God in
our mind of something that we ought to do, but we don’t do it. We think
of every excuse in the world NOT to do it. God has a plan for us and
has, on many occasions, let us know what these plans are. But we don’t
listen to him. We do what we want to do and ignore God. That is exactly
what we are doing when we decide NOT to listen to that inner voice, our
spirit that is calling us to do something. It might be calling us to do
something that we are afraid of doing. And because we are afraid, we
often times simply ignore it, or do the opposite of what it is telling
us to do, in hopes that we could escape it or get away.

But going against God’s wishes cannot possibly help us in any way, as
Jonah soon found out. If you spend your life NOT following God’s plan
for your life, you will end up with a life that is just about
shipwrecked. Drama will seem to follow you wherever you go. You won’t
seem to be able to get away from the drama.

Jonah, the Asparagus, decided to go do the opposite of what God told him
to do. He got on a boat to go as far away as he possibly could from the
city of Ninevah.

Of course, this made God angry with Jonah. And because of God’s anger,
God caused a storm that not only endangered Jonah’s life, but all of the
passenger’s lives that were on the boat.

When the passengers discovered the storm was directed at their boat
because Jonah had angered God, they encouraged Jonah to jump off the
boat to save their lives. They figured that God was angry with Jonah and
no one else on the boat; therefore, it would be best that Jonah
abandoned the ship. Jonah agreed and jumped into the water.
Whether or not you are aware of it, whatever you do has an effect on
other people. All of us are connected to each other. It doesn’t matter
what race, creed, sex or nationality you happen to be, we are ALL
ONE—connected to each other by the Creator. Our souls come from one
source and one source ONLY—The Almighty.

What you do DOES affect other people. If you are not living the life you
were meant to live, it will affect the lives of others in a negative
way. If you ARE living the life God designed for you to live, your life
will affect others in a positive way. It’s as simple as that.

Just think for a moment about someone who is living their life in a
negative way. For a lack of a better example, think about a drug dealer.
What they do is negative and it has a negative affect on many people’s
lives. Think of a rapist or a murderer or a thief—all of what they do is
negative and it has a negative affect on the lives of others.

Now think of a preacher, or a teacher, or a motivational speaker (OK, I
just HAD to throw that one in there)—what they do is positive and has a
positive affect on the lives of others.

Everything you do has an affect on someone else.

OK, I hear you saying, “But, Dawn, what about me? I work as a factory
worker. What kind of an effect do I have on anyone?

You have an affect on others as well. If you aren’t living the life that
God has designed for you to live, you are teaching your children, or
anyone else that you come in contact with on a daily basis, that they,
too, do not have to live their life with purpose. You are teaching them
that they can settle for being less than what God has planned for them.
And that is wrong.

Once Jonah jumped off the boat, the sun immediately started to shine.
The people on the boat started to feel bad that they had encouraged him
to jump over. So, they decided to help him back on the boat. But God
wasn’t allowing it. He sent a whale to swallow Jonah up. The whale
carried him, in his belly, to Ninevah where Jonah was spit out on the
shore.

Sometimes, no matter how much we try to get away from our purpose, God
steers us in the right direction. Generally, when people find out what
their life’s purpose is, they realize that everything in their life was
leading up to their purpose. Nothing in life happens simply by
coincidence. EVERYTHING happens for a reason.

When Jonah found himself at the gate of Ninevah, he figured he might as
well go and deliver the message from God. The guards at the gate asked
him what did he want and if he was a stranger. He told them that he came
because he had a message from God. The guards told him that since he was
a stranger, he was not allowed to enter the city. Without any protest,
Jonah gave up and started to turn around. The first obstacle that came
in his way, he gave up—quit. He said, “Oh well, I’ve tried.”

Isn’t that what we do? As soon as the slightest thing gets in our way,
we give up. We say, “Hey, I tried,” and never try again. We start
telling ourselves all kinds of untruths to help substantiate our belief.
Most of us give up hope and never try again.

But God wasn’t allowing it with Jonah. The passengers from the boat
appeared out of nowhere and spotted Jonah. See, they had taken the money
that Jonah had given to them for their services on the boat and
purchased hundreds of bags of cheese doodles because there was a hidden
prize in one of the bags. They won the prize, which was a trip to
Ninevah. Because Jonah knew them, he was allowed to enter the city.

Remember I told you there were no such thing as coincidences? It might
seem like a coincidence that the passengers showed up when they did. But
God planned it all. Jonah was to deliver a message. It was his purpose.
Everything in his life would lead up to the moment in which he could
deliver that message.

It works the same for you and me. You have a purpose. Once you discover
that purpose, God will put seemingly coincidental things into your life
that will help you live that purpose out to the fullest.

Now that Jonah was in the city, he still couldn’t think of a way to
deliver his message to the entire city. That seemed impossible, or so
Jonah thought. But again, God was working in the background.

The Celery, I think it was, had taken some cheese doodles that he
shouldn’t have taken. (Remember, this is Veggie Tales I’m talking
about). The Celery didn’t know it was illegal to take them. He thought
they were there for people to take because they were sitting out in a
large bowl. Because he had taken the cheese doodles without permission,
they said that he had stolen them and decided to sentence all of them to
death.

All of the people of the city gathered around to see the execution.
Right before the execution, Jonah was trying to talk to save their lives
and mentioned that he had spent three days in the belly of a white whale
and survived. Unbeknownst to him, the people of Ninevah worshipped the
whale and therefore felt that he must be someone very special if he was
swallowed by a whale and lived to tell about it. Because he was thought
to be “special” by the people, they allowed him to deliver his message
from God to all the people of Ninevah.

See how God works? No matter what happens in your life, once you know
your purpose, God will work with you to make sure that you live that
purpose. It worked for Jonah, the Asparagus, and it will work for you,
too.

Find your purpose. And KNOW, that no matter what obstacles may come your
way, God is with you and will make sure that eventually you WILL live
that purpose. But you have to do a few things, and they are: NEVER GIVE
UP, BELIEVE and HAVE FAITH!!
 

Dawn Fields is a motivational speaker, author and coach. She has an amazing way of reaching you with her down-to-earth style and her ability to make the impossible seem possible. Sign up for her FREE weekly newsletter by sending a blank email to mailto:yourlifespurpose-subscribe@topica.com.