Category: Things I’m learning

(click here to read part 1)

What am I running from?
I know.
God knows.
And as His child He will not allow me to continue without encountering great difficulty & resistance. — That’s His lovingkindness & grace that never stops pursuing me. 

He will not allow me to hold onto something that is slowly destroying me from the inside out. 

I see myself in Jonah. The story of Jonah —much like mine— is a testimony to the patient, persistent, pursuit of the One who knows everything about me and desires me in spite of me. He knew I would resist, disobey, & run… nevertheless He does not stop in His pursuit. 

In Jonah’s story I am reminded of this time and time again. Even in Jonah’s rebellion God was going before him: preparing obstacles to remind him of His love:

1:4 — “But the Lord sent out a great wind…”
1:17 — “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish…”
4:6 — “And the Lord God prepared a plant…”
4:7 — “as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm…”
4:8 — “God prepared a vehement east wind…“

Perhaps Jonah thought it would be easy to run, hide, & go the opposite way; but Jonah didn’t know that God was going to run after Jonah just as hard as he was trying to run away. Jonah could not outrun God’s hand. Jonah learned that God’s salvation extended even to the bottom of the ocean.

Sometimes the appeal of rebellion is greater than obedience, but just like God extended mercy and grace to the Ninevites, He was also extending mercy & grace to Jonah.

In chapter 2, after Jonah is swallowed by a great fish, he prays: reflecting on his own despair & rejoicing in the deliverance God provided for him. Then, in verse 9, Jonah turns the focus away from himself and says “THOSE:” 

“Those who regard worthless idols
Forsake their own Mercy.” Jonah 2:9

Who is Jonah referring to? As you read the chapter that verse seems somewhat out of place… perhaps he is thinking about the Ninevites: accusing the them of forsaking their chance at receiving mercy because of their idolatry…

This reminds me that when we choose to run from the Lord we must also realize that we are running TOWARDS something else…when you attempt to flee from God’s presence you are also running from all He is: love, joy, peace… When you run from God you are running TOWARDS confusion & emptiness.

What worthless idol do I continue to run to?
What am I holding that is keeping me from clinging tightly to God?
An idol is anything that we chose to worship & serve apart from God.

The NIV version of this verse reads: “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” How often have I chosen to cling to fear or pride and forfeited God’s grace?

Your hands cannot cling to idols
& His hand simultaneously.

To cling to grace you must loose your grip on pride and your desire to call the shots.

I’m a lot like Jonah: I know how it feels to be in rebellion and disobedience, thinking I’m in control and can outrun God. But stories like Jonah’s remind me that it’s a lost cause to hide from God: He’s just too gracious. He’s too kind. He’s altogether holy & unlike me. And yet He patiently insists on making me more like Him. 

That is a grace I’ll never reach the end of.

May we spend our days letting go of worthless idols so that we may be those who embrace the grace God freely gives.

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“You must not turn aside,
for then you would go after futile things
which can not profit or deliver,
because they are futile.” 2 Samuel 2:21

“Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
And revive me in Your way.” Psalm 119:37

“You are not hidden
There’s never been a moment you were forgotten
You are not hopeless
Though you have been broken, your innocence stolen

There is no distance
That cannot be covered over & over
You’re not defenseless
I’ll be your Shelter, I’ll be your Armor

I will send out an army to find you
In the middle of the darkest night
It’s true, I will rescue you
I will never stop marching to reach you
In the middle of the hardest fight
It’s true, I will rescue you“

-Lauren Daigle “Rescue”

Jonah: his story covers 1 page in my Bible sandwiched in-between the minor prophets. The short account we have of his life intrigues me sooo much. Jonah was a prophet: which meant he was essentially “God’s mouthpiece.” We don’t know what God had called Jonah to say or do prior to this account, but when God calls him to Nineveh; verse 3 of chapter 1 says that:

“Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”

Given the fact that he was a prophet I suppose Jonah had a previous track record of being obedient & following God’s call. I would think that Jonah had an outward appearance of a “surrendered life” — but internally Jonah had something in his heart that only he & God knew about.

Perhaps Jonah had set some conditions in his heart: “Lord, I’ll go anywhere You send me. But just don’t call me to Nineveh. Anywhere but there, ok?”

So when God calls Jonah to arise & go to Nineveh—he draws the line and runs. He books it for a ship headed in the opposite direction of Nineveh & goes to the lowest part of the ship to fall asleep.

As he sought rest maybe Jonah reasoned within himself: “Certainly God will call someone else now; He won’t continue to pursue me. I sent Him a clear message, I’m not going there.“

But just as God’s heart was for the people of Nineveh, 
God’s heart was for Jonah.

God was pursuing Jonah to give him both the desire & power to follow and obey His call—but Jonah resisted.

Philippians 2:13 says:
“For God is working in you,
giving you the desire & the power
to do what pleases Him.” (NLT)

Have you experienced the reality and extent of God’s relentless desire to transform your heart? 
Have you been scared of what that change would look like…so you decided to run instead?
Have you believed that you could run from the voice of God?
Have you thought you could block out His words with enough noise?
I have.
In my experience, any time I try to do that the noise is deafening and my heart longs for the quiet stillness of His presence.

I know how it feels to run: the exhaustion & the battle that ensues when you choose to go against what God has spoken. 

God wanted to transform Jonah’s heart: so He called him to Nineveh. Only in Nineveh would Jonah be able to experience God’s heart for grace, mercy, reconciliation & restoration. 

Jonah couldn’t fathom that God would offer repentance & forgiveness to a people so unrighteous & lawless.

Jonah was running—
not only from God’s call;
but from God’s heart.

God was not only concerned about the wickedness and coming judgement for Nineveh, He was also concerned for the heart of His prophet. When God places His affection on you; He desires to remove anything that hinders your relationship with Him.  Even though it will not be comfortable or “feel good” He calls us to hard places and to do hard things because He wants to transform us & those around us — something that will last for eternity.

God is not merely concerned with a message—He is concerned for the heart of the person delivering the message.

In verses 2 & 3 of chapter 4 Jonah reflects on who he knows God to be:

“I know that You are a gracious & merciful God,
slow to anger & abundant in lovingkindness,
One who relents from doing harm.
Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me,
for it is better for me to die than to live!”

God desires us to be made more into His likeness & image.
How?
When we surrender our life to the control of the Holy Spirit the very nature & being of God comes to live inside us to live His life through us.

In Jonah’s life we see the wrestle and struggle that ensues when we fight against that surrender. God desired to remove the bitterness, resentment, anger, pride, prejudice, envy, jealousy, & selfishness that Jonah had been holding onto…

… but Jonah had other plans:
Jonah wanted to run…