Have you ever had those moments where you found yourself in resistance with God? He’s telling you to go one way, but you insist on going another? You know it’s something you should be doing, but because you don’t want to do it, you try to avoid it at all costs. You feel that avoiding what you have been told-or running away from what you should be doing- will be of benefit to you. In reality, you end up causing more harm than help to yourself, and depending on what (or who) you are trying to avoid could cause harm to someone else-resulting in you, or them, being completely off course.
The book of Jonah begins with a prophet- named Jonah- who received a word from God to preach repentance to the nation of Assyria in its capital called Nineveh. Jonah had a problem with this because the Assyrians were longtime enemies of Israel so because of this, Jonah disobeyed the Father. In an attempt to run from God, Jonah went to Joppa, purchased a ticket, and boarded a ship that was going to a city in the opposite direction of Nineveh called Tarshish. Jonah thought he had escaped by paying for a ticket to go in the opposite direction, but he had no idea what it was about to cost him for going against God.
Shortly after the ship sets out to sea, God sent a storm that was so strong that it almost broke up the ship Jonah and the sailors were on. The sailors panicked to the point they called on their gods followed by them throwing their cargo into the sea in an attempt to make the ship lighter, but none of their options worked. Finally, the captain went to the lower deck of the ship and noticed that Jonah was fast asleep. After being questioned and having lots cast on him by the captain and the sailors, Jonah admitted that he was the reason why God’s judgment fell on them because he admitted to them earlier that he was running from God. Sometimes, we don’t know how much our sins cost until somebody else has to pay for them. Not wanting to, the sailors ended up throwing Jonah into the sea and he was swallowed by a great fish. After Jonah was thrown overboard, the storm ceased and the winds stopped.
While inside the belly of the fish, Jonah prayed to the Father, sought Him for His help, repented of the sins he committed and gave the Father praise despite the situation he found himself in. After being in the belly of the fish for three days, the fish vomited Jonah up to shore, but not just any shore- the fish vomited Jonah on the shores of Nineveh. The same place Jonah tried to avoid was the same place God ended up taking him to after all.
When the Father told Jonah to preach to the Ninevites a second time, he went without hesitation. Jonah entered the city of Nineveh preaching that the Ninevites would be destroyed in 40 days if they didn’t repent and surprisingly enough, they listened to Jonah. When Jonah’s message made it to the king of Nineveh, he took heed to the words that the prophet spoke. The king of Nineveh issued a decree for the people and animals to fast, lament, and repent of the sins they had committed against God and because the Ninevites has a sincere heart of repentance and humility towards the Father, He withheld His judgment from the Ninevites and showed mercy and compassion towards them.
You would think that after preaching God’s message to the Ninevites that Jonah would have been happy about their repentance, right? Wrong. Jonah was so angry and bitter at the fact that the Father extended His mercy towards the Ninevites that he wanted to die. He was even bold enough to tell God that it was the reason why he tried to avoid going to Nineveh in the first place he knew that God was going to hold back His wrath against this city. Again, the Ninevites were enemies of Israel so because of this alone, Jonah didn’t feel that they were worthy enough of receiving the Father’s mercy.
When Jonah left and sat outside of the city to rest, God used a vine to protect him from the sun-this made Jonah happy. But the following day, God sent a worm to eat the same vine that provided shelter for Jonah. This caused Jonah to complain and he wanted to “die again” because the sun was beating down on him and the winds that God sent to him were scorching hot. The Father ended up putting Jonah in check for being more concerned about receiving covering from a plant but was less concerned about God covering the lives and souls of the Ninevites.
Just like Jonah, there may have been times when the Father told or needed you to do something, but you chose not to because of selfish reasons. Maybe there were times when you knew that you were out of line with God, and still wanted His mercy, but was less receptive with someone else receiving it. Jonah had to be broken down in order to be built back up because he had a serious lesson to learn about the Father’s mercy. He attempted to flee in another direction, but was shipwrecked, and swallowed by a fish. Just as it was done to Jonah, God knows how to redirect our course in order to get our attention.
This story shows how gracious and merciful the Father is. There may have been times when we thought we were getting over and outsmarting God, but He has a way of humbling us. Just like the Ninevites, we too deserve God’s punishment but He chooses to be patient with us instead. As His Creation, we must allow the Father to carry out His purposes through us. Even if we don’t understand the ways He wants His purposes to go forth, it will give you an opportunity to exercise obedience in exchange for receiving the Father’s mercies and grace.
My prayer is that you will not get off course through disobedience but, instead, you will allow the Father to lead you without resistance. That you will have a “send me, I’ll go” spirit even if the complete plans have not been laid out before you. That you will not allow what you see, think, or feel cause you to become distracted and lose focus of what the Father has for you to do so that you can receive the blessings that come from having an obedient heart and heading in the right direction- God’s direction in Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.
