Running or Hiding From God does not work....EVER Jonah 1:1-3 - 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 in order to get away from the LORD. He went down to the seacoast, to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping that by going away to the west he could escape from the LORD. Most of us know the story well. Jonah…a young prophet…. decides he is smarter than the God who asked him to go and preach to some of the worst people in the world. Instead of saying okay. …this is gonna be so hard ..I will need lots of help….he runs the opposite direction. He endangers the lives of the crew of the boat he hides in…and ends up getting tossed into the sea and swallowed up by a great fish for three days. Jonah was rebellious….but God knew he would come around given some time to think about his mistake. So God creates a three day cruise in the belly of a stinky fish traveling straight towards the city he was asked to go to in the first place. His time in the belly of that fish was so important that Jesus quoted the story in Matthew 12:39-40. It is a reminder to me that I can not…under any circumstances…..ever….run from the God who created me. If he tells me to do something…bet everything on the fact that God will get me there somehow. God allows us to make the wrong choice…then uses our wrong choice to teach us the lesson we need to understand why he asked us to do it in the first place. Running from God only worsens our situation. Remember Adam and Eve…God found them in the garden even though they hid…and they ended up having to live outside that beautiful garden and till the ground to exist the rest of their lives. Remember Jacob…who ran from his brother Esau after tricking him out of his birthright….God found him and wrestled with him till he accepted the blame for what he had done and returned to apologize. I admit…it seems easier to run sometimes…but that is just satan whispering lies in our ears. Following God is really easier…if we adjust our attitudes on our own. He tricked me into believing that a divorce was the best choice….and assure you that is was not. God is restoring my family slowly…but it will never be exactly the same again. I can’t ‘what if’ about the past….just listen to God to how to make amends for my mistake. Once my attitude is focused on what God wants ….instead of what selfish me wants…everything he asks me to do seems easy. Father…. Thank you for the reminder that I can never run any place that you will not find me. Forgive me for the times I have tried to hide….and thank you for finding me. Thank you for using the mistake I made to teach me how to be closer to you…and learn how to less selfish. Continue to show me how I can make amends for what I did by sharing the great things you do for me when my attitude is focused on you. Amen.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 11:17:36 +0000
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