Scripture

Jonah 1

'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. 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 the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.

Then they cried out to the Lord , Jonah’s God. “O Lord ,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord , you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.” Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! The sailors were awestruck by the Lord ’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.' Jonah 1:1-17

observation

Not wanting to do what God has asked me/you often leads to consequences for my/your(self), and even others when they had no part of me/you not being obedient.

In this case, Jonah just was not having it - he did not want to go tell a group of people to repent because he did not like them. They were wicked, doing evil, pretty much bottom-of-the-barrel degenerates and all he was hoping for is that God would kill them and he would not lose any sleep over it should that happen.

Instead of going to he went the opposite direction. Same as in life when we do wrong instead of right; we choose not to speak to someone even when we were pretty sure God prompted us to; or any similar event where we intentionally did things that were not Christ-like - which, ultimately, left us feeling pretty crappy and disappointed after we stopped to think about it.

In this story the sailors were beginning to get punished for what Jonah did. They were about to lose their lives in a storm, of which was brought on by disobedience, being obstinate, wanting to have it my/your way instead of the Lord’s. How many times in the course of my past actions/words, without thought or consequence, did others (my family, friends, clients, etc.) suffer alongside and even to many degrees greater than I?

Application

I am trying to be more observant when God is speaking into my life. While hearing Jay and Justin have heard from the Lord clearly, cannot say that I always do. Trying to be more connected, intentional about being silent, waiting patiently until He has. Still, I do struggle in this area and continue to work on this area of my walk.

When I have felt or believe He has, I have been known to go 100% without fully investigating, planning, preparing, and then execution; instead just run until I figure it out. This has lead to results that were not always successful, though each time it was a learning experience.

Now I am trying to slow things down, continue praying and working through the trials, the questions, facing the challenges/obstacles, and trusting the outcome to the Lord. Like Jonah, God had different plans than we/I do, and we for the most part cannot see what the end game is. It is likely one of the reason we fight doing what He asks us because of the uncertainty, yet when we look back after whatever it is happens that we understand it is the works of His Hands that allowed it to be. More often than not, that is when I sit in awe and wonder at how awesome God is, that He allowed me to go through what I did, His blessings to those He has placed in my life, to see His goodness, mercy, and grace on display.

Prayer

Father God, I am grateful for not abandoning me whenever I am disobedient. It may not be a fish that you allow to swallow me up to reflect on what you are trying to speak into my life or are asking me to do and I refuse. It is during those times when I said ‘really, no’ and you said ‘Oh, really’, or you asked me to wait and I was too impatient so I did it anyway and you did not allow it to happen. That you loved me enough to allow me to go through it, and what I did not realize at the time is you were still with me. Thank you for my second chances, thirds and fourths on other occasions. May I learn to clearly hear from you and do what you ask to avoid the pain and hurt, to myself and those around me. May I, like Jonah, tell whoever you are placing my life about your Son, Jesus, the good news that everyone needs to hear. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen!