Rebelling Against God's Call- Jonah

1The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

3But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

4Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

7Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

9He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

10This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

11The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

12“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” (Jonah 1) 

Thoughts: Jonah was a prophet.  He is mentioned in other places (2 Kings 14:15; Matthew 11:30) as an important prophetic figure.  His main role was to go to the capital of the Mediterranean world at that time (Ninevah- a very wicked city), and ask them to repent.  Jonah did not want to go.  Instead he tried to "run away from the Lord."  He was running away from God's call for him.  As many scholars have pointed out, Tarshish, where he was headed, was a resort city on the Spanish Riviera.   It would be similar to God calling you to go to help in one of the poorest places in Mexico on a mission trip, and you chose to go to Cancun or Acapulco resort instead.  There are times when God calls us to do something that is not comfortable.  Our comfort is not the main thing- but fulfilling God's purpose is.
     The great news is even though Jonah ran away, the Lord ran after him to help him fulfill His purpose.  Instead of just choosing someone else, God continued to call, mold, and shape Jonah.  It is a testimony to God's grace that He is patient and gracious to us.  God used a miracle to turn Jonah around.  Sometimes God pursues us (the Hound of heaven idea), and our call. 

Prayer: Lord, let me have ears to hear and a heart and strength  to respond to your call.