“The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.” (Jonah 1:1-3)

Not so with, Jonah. He was given a clear directive from God. He was to travel to Nineveh and confront the people living there, of their wickedness. They were guilty of pride, greed, brutality and adultery. God was not pleased with them.

Many of sermons have been preached over the years teaching that Jonah was back slidden and running, turned from God.

Jonahs belief in God had not changed,  nor did His love for God. Jonah, simply did not agree with God’s calling for him. Instead, of fulfilling God’s will, he chose to hide. He wanted to get as far away from God as he could. No way, did he want to confront the inhabitants of Nineveh. So he stole away on a ship to Tarshish; thinking it would solve his predicament. Instead, it only made things worse. The ship succumbed to a mighty storm at sea and Jonah found himself, not only overboard, but swallowed alive by a leviathon (Whale) of the ocean. (Jonah 1:4)

We might say, he went from the frying pan, into the fire! Realizing what he had done, he beseeched God to forgive him.

Jonah’s story contains a strong warning to all godly people. We can easily miss the blessing of God’s grace, when extended beyond our comfort zone. In our human-ness, we only have enough vision to see our circumstances where we are at. God, on the other hand, sees the whole picture. He has planned our lives, and He will fulfill all His plans if we trust Him.

One of my favorite verses in the bible reads “For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord. “They are plans to give you hope and a future. When you call upon Me, and pray to Me with all your heart, I will be found by you and I will bring you to a place, that I kept exclusively for you”. (Jeremiah 29:10-13)

The point is: I would prefer to do God’s bidding and listen to His guidance, rather than go against His leading and direction for me. So, each day I pray that I will hear His directive and I will not just agree, I will obey.

“Jonah refused Gods calling for his life. He didn’t say anything. He just left town. Everything Jonah did  in disobedience took him further from God.”

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, We in our own selfishness and disobedience really create so many more problems then we should have to endure. We can be so arrogant at times. We find ourselves needing Your help, crying out to You and graciously You come to our rescue, In these times we are humbled and helpless, we listen because we have made a mess of our lives on our own. So many times after you have lifted us up, and helped us, we forget and return to trying to control our situations rather than trusting You to lead us. Help us to, not only hear your voice, but give us the strength to obey Your calling for our lives. . We love you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Rob Lavallee

Scriptural Seeds Ministries

http://www.scripturalseeds.org