A Sure Way Down - Jonah

Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD.

Jonah 1:3

Recall a time when your parents or some other authority told you to do something that simply didn’t make sense to you. Did you grumble and complain about having to do something so dumb, only to realize later that, just maybe, they knew something you didn’t?

Jonah, a stubborn prophet of God, found himself in that kind of situation. God had given Jonah specific instructions to go to the Assyrian capital of Nineveh and warn its wicked residents that God was about to bring judgment on them.

So what did Jonah do? He spun on his heel and headed in the opposite direction.

Jonah wasn’t stupid; he knew what he was doing. He didn’t get lost on his way to Assyria; he simply didn’t like his assignment. As a prophet, perhaps he foresaw that in just a few decades, the Assyrians would attack and destroy the nation of Israel and wondered why would God send him to warn them. Jonah wanted them dead! Corpses could not devastate his homeland.

Go ahead and judge them, he apparently thought, because I’m not going!

Have you ever felt like running from God? If so, take careful note of Jonah, for we have no better biblical example of the consequences of such a foolish choice. When Jonah ran, his life went nowhere but down—down to the seaport at Joppa, where he caught a ship for Tarshish; down to the hold of the ship; down to the depths of the sea; and down to the belly of the fish (see Jonah 1:5, 15-17).

After Jonah spent a few excruciating days on the ocean floor, he finally came to his senses and obeyed God’s instructions. The chastised prophet preached, the people of Nineveh repented, and God spared the city for a time.

What marching orders has God given you that seem to make little sense? Are you struggling with a decision that keeps you up at night—not because you don’t know what God wants you to do but because you do? If you could have a long conversation with Jonah at this moment, what do you think he would tell you?

When God tells you to do something out of the ordinary, put your doubts behind, listen, and act because he might just be planning something extraordinary.