On the Run

“He (Jonah) paid the fare and went down into it (the boat) to go with them to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence.”
Jonah 1:3 CSB

Have you ever known what you should do and just decided you didn’t want to do it? Then went in the completely different direction? That is what Jonah did. He knew what God wanted from him and why. Not only did he not want to do it, he was mad at God for asking him to do it. Then in his anger he ran from God. Now, in our lives we wouldn’t say we were running from God, we might just say we were “making different choices.” The interesting fact about running from God is, we can’t. The Psalmist said it this way, “Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.” In other words, it is impossible to remove ourselves from the presence of God. If we are Christ-followers, running from God only leads to misery for us and those closely associated with us. If you were to keep reading the story of Jonah you would see that the poor sailors and other passengers who had to be close to Jonah as he ran were also adversely affected by his sin. God will not let us run unchecked. Our disobedience is not limited to just us.
My conclusion as I have thought through the life of Jonah over the years is, I am much better off saying yes to God immediately than going through the pain and difficulties of being stubborn and having to be corrected by God. How about you? Have you learned that lesson yet? If not, why not take some time today and read the book of Jonah. Observe what happens when we disobey God; see what happens to our heart and the bitterness that eats at us. We can learn from Jonah and respond differently.

-Pastor Tim