The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amitai: “Get up! Go to the great city of Ninevah and preach against it, because their wickedness has confronted ME.”
However, Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the LORD’s presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, from the LORD’s presence.
Jonah 1:1-3 HCSB
God commanded Jonah to go to Ninevah and preach to the people there. These were evil, wicked people. Jonah didn’t like them, and he didn’t like what they did. They did cruel things, and he might have even been afraid of what they would do to him. He certainly did not want to go to this big city and preach to these mean and hateful people. He decided he would just flee from God’s presence.
It sounds silly that he might think he could do such a thing doesn’t it? But when we do things we are not supposed to do, don’t we try to hide them from others? Do we think we are hiding them from God? We can’t hide the wrong things we do any more than Jonah could run away from God.
We serve a God who is omnipresent, he’s everywhere. We serve a God who is omniscient, He knows everything. We serve a God who is omnipotent, He’s all powerful. He’s sovereign, He controls all things. He just sent this terrible storm which ended up leaving the sailors no choice but to throw Jonah overboard. Then God sent this huge fish to swallow Jonah whole.
Can you imagine being in this violent storm, being thrown overboard, and being swallowed whole and finding yourself in the belly of a huge fish? What would you do? Well, Jonah prayed. He thanked God for saving his life and he told God he would now do what He had told him to do in the first place.
It was foolish for Jonah to think he could run or hide from God. It’s foolish for us to think that also. God has given us commands through His Holy Word. He has commanded us to love Him with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind or our strength. He has commanded us to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). This means we forgive them as God forgives that is if we want God to forgive us (Matthew 6:15).
If you are not doing these things you are trying to flee from God, but it won’t work. What will it take? Will he send a storm and a huge fish to swallow you up? Probably not, but he will definitely get your attention.
None of us are here to decorate the earth. We are here to be in close fellowship with God. We were put here to serve Him. He has a job for us to do. It may be something you don’t want to do, but He still wants you to do it.
When I was asked to teach the 3–5-year-old class in AWANA, I had no experience with small children. I had been a parole officer. I didn’t think this would work, but I prayed about it and knew I couldn’t say no. I enjoyed this class immensely. Yes, it was very challenging at times, but it was also very rewarding.
God has given me many more tasks over the years, and I have learned to just obey Him. There are still some things that I worry about doing, but ultimately, I know He will be right there with me and will guide me through. He has also put some awesome Christian people in my life that help when I need it.
If you are running from God, you are wasting your time and running the risk of making God angry. This is futile. Stop and obey Him. Don’t make Him send a violent storm and a big fish, just obey Him from the beginning.
Have a great day!