JONAH

"Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me.  But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD." (Jonah 1:1-3).

 

As much as we hate to admit it, there is, at times, a little bit of Jonah in all of us.  It's that carnal, selfish side of us that rises up and says, "I want to do what I want to do!"  Even when we know it's not a good choice, we choose it anyway.  Paul experienced it, and wrote about it in his letter to the Roman believers.  He said, "For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." (Romans 7:15).  In other words, the things that he hated doing, and in his mind he wouldn't allow himself to do, he did anyway; and the things that he knew were right and good, he found that he had trouble doing.  It's sort of like our New Year's resolutions: good intentions that don't get done.

 

The Lord had spoken to Jonah and revealed what He wanted Jonah to do, but Jonah, for whatever reason, was unwilling to fulfill the Lord's will.  Be it pride, be it fear, or just an unwillingness to put forth the effort, Jonah chose to run.  Notice that in running from God's will, Jonah was also running from God's presence.  We cannot refuse to obey God, and continue to bask in His presence and blessing.  Incidentally, the place that Jonah decided to run to, Tarshish, was about as far away from Nineveh as one could travel in that day.  Jonah had to sail the length of the Mediterranean Sea to the tip of Spain to reach his destination.  Funny, the lengths to which a person will go in order to avoid doing the Lord's will!

  

"But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.  Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep." (Jonah 1:4-6).

 

It seems that when we run from the presence of God, we become oblivious to the danger and the urgency of the circumstances surrounding us.  Much like the disciples, who could not stay awake on the night of Jesus' betrayal, we are often not conscious of our need to watch and pray.  So it was with Jonah.  The tempest was tearing at the boat so violently that even the seasoned mariners were calling on their gods, but Jonah was fast asleep in the hold of the ship.  When we resist the Lord's plans for us, then circumstances start to master our lives instead of us mastering our circumstances.   

 

When they finally woke Jonah out of his sleep, he confessed that it was for his sake that the ship was in jeopardy.  His solution was to suggest that the sailors throw him overboard.  Of course, they were not willing to do this, and they struggled all the harder to save the ship and themselves; but, when all their efforts became futile, they threw Jonah into the waves.  How much easier it would have been for Jonah to simply repent right then and there and accept what the Lord wanted him to do.  Instead, he was willing to drown rather than go to Nineveh.  But it was not to be.

 

In the gospel of St. John, the sixth chapter, we read of the disciple's struggle against a vicious storm on the Sea of Galilee.  They had rowed against the wind for about 3 or 3 1/2 miles when they saw Jesus walking across the waves toward them.  Their first reaction to this was fear, but Jesus called to them, and said, "It is I; be not afraid."  Scripture records an often overlooked miracle here.  "Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went."  No more struggling, no more laboring: they were immediately where they wanted to be!  It really is that easy.  We only need to willingly receive Him and what He desires for us, and then we find that we are miraculously in that place that we have longed for.  The winds cease, the waves quit rolling, and we find ourselves right where we need to be: a place of peace and assurance of faith.

   

"Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." (Jonah 1:17).

 

A wise minister friend of mine once said that God always has a big fish prepared for those who choose to run from Him!  God doesn't like to take "no" for an answer.  That place that we run to will turn out to be the most miserable place that we can imagine.  Jonah's fish became a personal hell where he was forced to face God and his own disobedience.  It was there, in the dark, putrid belly of the whale that Jonah turned back to God and prayed.

 

"Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and He heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and Thou heardest my voice.  For Thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all Thy billows and Thy waves passed over me.  Then I said, I am cast out of Thy sight; yet I will look again toward Thy holy temple.  The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.  I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast Thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.  When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto Thee, into Thine holy temple.  They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.  But I will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD." (Jonah 2:1-9).

 

Jonah found redemption in that terrible place.  He repented of his selfishness, and discovered that God was a God of mercy.  When Jonah acknowledged his sin, God had the fish vomit him onto dry land.  We, also, will always find mercy with God when we are willing to see things as He does.  

 

“And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.  So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD.” (Jonah 3:1, 3).

 

God's purpose never changes.  When He asks us to do a certain thing, He will not rest until we do.  Repentance isn't just saying we're sorry - it's agreeing with God's sovereignty in our life and obeying what He has asked us to do.  "Bring forth fruits meet for repentance," we are told. 

 

It is only through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ that we find strength to accomplish God's will.  If we depend on our own will or determination, we will fall every time.  John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country."  Many try to apply the same principle to their Christianity.  Instead, our motto should be, "Ask not what you can do for God, ask what God can do in you."  God is not interested in our plans, or our ambitions – they only hinder the work that He is doing.  You see Jesus has already finished the work.  There is nothing that we can add or detract from what He has done.  God Himself has completed His purpose in Christ.  In order to work the works of God we must simply believe on Him Whom God has sent.  When we do, we put on the life of Jesus which can never be altered or improved upon.  “And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him; and His righteousness, it sustained Him.  For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon His head; and He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.” (Isaiah 59:16, 17). 

 

The apostle Paul, in considering the sad state of the carnal man, said, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"  (Romans 7:24)  He answers this question in the next sentence, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord."  Jesus is always the answer to all of life's questions.  When we turn to Jesus, we find the power to do God's will.  As we allow his grace to work in us, we find the ability to perform what He asks of us (Philippians 2:13).   

 

Jonah is an example of what we should not do.  Many things that the Lord asks of me seem difficult to accomplish in the flesh, but I find that God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever (Psalm 73:26).  It is by trusting God to work His will in me that I can overcome.  When I am overwhelmed by fears, or doubts, or a sense of my own weakness, it's then that I need to trust the One Who loved me enough to give His life for me.  "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5).  Faith is the victory!

 

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:1, 2).