Understands God’s Character

Understands God’s Character

A HERO’S TALE

Have you ever played hide-and-seek? Of course you have. Every kid has played that game.

But imagine playing hide-and-seek with the following rules:

1. You can only hide in the same room the seeker is already in.
2. The room is small, with no hiding places whatsoever.
3. The seeker can keep his eyes open the whole time you’re trying to hide.

Sounds like a pretty pathetic game, huh? Welcome to Jonah’s world.

Jonah was a prophet in Israel who lived in the eighth century BC, when the Assyrian Empire was the world’s major superpower. The Assyrians were a wicked, violent, idol-worshiping nation. (You can read his whole story in the short Bible book that’s named after him.)

One day, God called Jonah to travel to Nineveh, a major city in Assyria that was a 500-mile journey northeast from Israel, and prophesy against it. But Jonah didn’t want to go, so he boarded a ship for Tarshish —the opposite direction.

You probably know the story. God sent a huge storm, the sailors threw Jonah overboard, and a giant fish swallowed him up and spit him out on dry ground three days later. Then, Jonah finally obeyed and went to Nineveh, where he spoke God’s words to the people.

Phew, what a trip!

DECODING THE MESSAGE

Jonah was badly mistaken. He thought he could somehow run away from God, as if there are places in the world where God has no control or cannot see. But that’s simply not true.

God is all-powerful. He knows and sees everything. God knows whatever we do and say —even before it happens. He sees us wherever we go. Nothing we do is a secret from him. Just like that crazy game of hide-and-seek described earlier, we can’t hide from God.

Jonah learned this the hard way. But you don’t have to. A true hero for God understands God’s character. He reads the Bible to learn more about God. He listens in church when Scripture is taught. He asks God for more wisdom.

Although this knowledge about God doesn’t save you from your sins (only faith in Jesus can do that), it will help you greatly in life. Knowing that God is holy will help you worship him. Knowing God is all-powerful will help you not to fear anything. Knowing that God knows everything will help you trust and obey him. See the connection?

So seek to understand God more. The better you know the Lord God Almighty, the better your life will be!

BATTLE PLAN

Read Psalm 139:1-12 to get a glimpse of God’s all-knowing, all-seeing power and how it relates to your life.