I Am Jonah Series

Do you want to hear a confession? I’m a lot like Jonah and I suspect so are many of you.

When I was in Philadelphia with my brother, I visited a place that I’ve been reading about for 20 years - Independence Hall. I stood in the room where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution was signed. I was nearly in tears.

When we were going through security, I noticed a Muslim family in full Islamic dress. Truthfully, just for an instant, I thought, “Wonder why they are here?” And I even decided to keep an eye on them.

Do you know why they were there? The same reason I was there. They were so excited to see where this nation got its start and stand in the room where the giants of the American Revolution stood.

I felt a wave of shame wash over me. I had judged them unfairly simply based on the color of their skin and their style of dress.

Jonah didn’t like the mission, so he ran away from God.

Let’s stop there and let me ask you is it possible to run away from God?

One of God’s attributes is omnipresence - which means He is everywhere.

David wrote about this in Psalm 139:

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“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” (Psalm 139:7-12)

Jonah knew this but he tried to run from God anyway. So God pursues him. We will pick this up Lord willing next week.

What are some lessons that we can learn from these beginning verses of Jonah?

Saying no to God is a dangerous proposition

Sometimes it’s okay to say no. I need to say no to the fourth oatmeal butterscotch cookies. We need to say no to watching the entire show on Netflix in one sitting.

This week, Andrew Luck shocked the world and walked away from the NFL. He said he was just tired. So he said no to more pain, more injuries, more surgeries. He also said no to maybe a half a billion dollars in salaries he would have earned over the next ten years. But in saying no to football, he was saying yes to his family.

The nation of Hong Kong is saying no to China’s autocratic rule over them and the church is leading the way.

?Sometimes it’s healthy to say no. But not when it comes to God.

Jonah looked like he had it all together. He was a popular prophet. He looked good on the outside but there were dirty little secrets on the inside of his heart.

He was selfish and prejudiced and had no interest in God’s mission of mercy to people who were not like him and his people.

So he said, “no way.”

J.D. Greear writes, “You are never farther from God than when you close to God and say no to Him.”

Saying no to God is really about not trusting His goodness toward us.