provision

I was reading my sister's blog the other day and the following quote from the story of Jonah was included with her entry.

"But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights."

I suppose being swallowed by a huge fish (and living) is an improvement on drowning...but still. It probably wouldn't have been too pleasant either. When i read it, my heart snagged on the word "provided".
It wasn't that the Lord "allowed" a great fish to swallow Jonah. The Lord "provided" a great fish to swallow Jonah.
Instead of launching into a lengthy diatribe on the whole story, I'm going to leave it at a thought that has been sticking with me this week.
Sometimes God's provision looks weird.
Sometimes it's uncomfortable, frightening or even painful.
Sometimes we forget what the alternative to his provision might have been.
Sometimes we need to thankful for the weird and the uncomfortable because they may just be the things that give us the perspective we need for the road ahead.