Are You on the Run?

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before Me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your God! Perhaps the God will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

Jonah 1:1-6

“You do you.”

“YOLO!”

“Get your happy!”

The slogans of the world around us decry obedience to God. Neither God nor obedience is even on the secular world’s radar. Why would they be? The secular world does not know God. They see His handiwork and stand in awe of it, they even worship His creation, some may be thankful to “the universe” (that’s one I have heard with more frequency), but they do not know the Maker and Sustainer of it all as Father or Friend, as One who cares for them deeply knowing they are wanderers in search of meaning only He can give. They, like Jonah, are running from God, yet not slowing down enough to realize it.

Jonah’s disobedience is not the standard case of chasing after his own desires. Rather, because Jonah knows that God is merciful, he is running from God’s goodness!! Later in his story, Jonah quotes what God proclaims about His own character:

The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6).

Jonah knows God’s mercy to sinful men. He knew God was going to use him to save his enemy neighbors, the bloodthirsty pagans of Ninevah. Jonah, a righteous man and prophet of the Lord, is running away because he does not like God’s plan for his life.

Lest we begin laughing at Jonah for the fact that he is attempting escape from the presence of the Omnipresent God, we must acknowledge that we do it too. We often do not like God’s plan for our lives any more than Jonah did. When we ignore God, pretending He cannot see us, hear our thoughts, or witness our actions, we are running like Jonah. When we are on the run from God, we risk becoming short-sighted, forgetting that because we live in community, others will be directly or indirectly affected by our choices.

Consider the man or woman who is convinced that God does not want them in a loveless marriage. The spouse who leaves their marriage does not just forsake their spouse, but also other family members who are always affected by the loss.

The addicts who just need a little help to do this hard life think they are not hurting anyone but themselves, yet they do not realize they are allowing their substance of choice to stand in for them with friends, family, and even at work. They are abdicating being present so they can “catch a break”.

Maybe your rebellion is more subtle. Life did not turn out as you had planned or imagined. What God is asking of you is not what you told Him you desired. It’s not exactly rebellion, you reason, just discontentment or disappointment, but you still don’t want to talk to God about it. After all, He could change your situation if He wanted to, but He hasn’t.

In our right minds, we know running from God, ignoring Him, or pretending He isn’t there is ridiculous. He is omnipresent, omnipotent, and fortunately for Jonah, you, and me, He is merciful, long-suffering, and the very definition of love.

Like Jonah, God has given you and me dominion over specific things in His world, specific tasks He intends only for us to do. As with Jonah, God uses the script of our lives to bring the gospel to those we encounter. God could have asked another prophet to preach to the Ninevites, but for Jonah’s sake, for the sake of sailors from faraway places who worship different gods, and the sake of the Ninevites, this was His call for Jonah. God may not send a big fish to swallow you, but He will send something–something that compels you to tell of His redemptive hand in your life.

I don’t know about you, but I would rather cooperate with God’s plan, even if it isn’t what I wanted in my life. I trust that His plan is better. I trust the God who created the universe and all that is in it, the God who sent His only Son to take death in my place. I am thankful for Jesus the Son, who did not run from the most difficult of tasks so that I have His Spirit with me daily, encouraging me, keeping me, comforting me, and teaching me to do the hard things I’ve been given.