Introduction
I recently had an encounter with a man who wanted to run away from all his troubles. He was in jail for drug use and didn’t get along with his parents because of how he acted when he was intoxicated. He told me, “Jon, when I get out of jail, I’m going to go to Atlanta and get a fresh start. I just want to get away from all my troubles and the only way I can do that is to get far away from here.” I then proceeded to remind the man that his legal problems are far from over and that running away would land him in a lot more trouble than he was in right now. What I was trying to get across to him was that he couldn’t run away from the reach of the government. They would show up to get him sooner or later if he tried.
This reminded me a bit of Jonah. Jonah was a prophet in the Old Testament who tried to run away from the will of God. He thought if he could just get away, he wouldn’t have to face doing what God asked of him. If I were there to talk to Jonah, I would have given him the same message I gave the man in jail. You can’t run from the reach of God. He will show up sooner or later. Let’s take a look at the prophet Jonah and see what happened to him.
(Read Jonah1:1-3)
I. Sometimes God asks us to do things we don’t want to do
Jonah didn’t act like your typical prophet in this situation. Typically, in scripture, when we see God telling a prophet to go do something, that prophet does as he is asked. Think of the obedience of prophets like Elijah, Elisha, and Samuel. However, Jonah has an ulterior motive at heart. He harbors anger and hatred against the people who do not have the one true God as their God; specifically, Nineveh. Why this is the case, no one knows. Perhaps Jonah was full of zeal against the enemies of the Lord and thought judgement more appropriate an outcome than salvation. Perhaps Jonah was wronged by the people of Nineveh in some way and he had not forgiven them. Really, we don’t know for sure.
All that we do know is that Jonah did not want to bring the message of the Lord to Nineveh because he did not want them to be saved. As he states in Chapter 4:2, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore, I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.”
Jonah was not the only man in the Bible who desired to do something other than what God asked of him. Think about Abraham for a moment. He didn’t want to rely on the promise of God that he would give him a son. God was taking too long for Abraham, so he took one of his wives maidservants and had a son, Ishmael, with her. It was only later that God would show his power over age and life by giving Sarah a son, Isaac, in her old age.
Think about Moses as well. He was a fugitive on the run from Egypt. He had just settled in a foreign land and took a quiet job as a shepherd on a farm with a kind, God-fearing man. Moses even took a wife from one of his daughters. He wanted to lay low in the land outside of Egypt. However, God spoke to him in a burning bush and commanded Moses to lead the nation of Israel by demanding their release from the Pharaoh. Moses came up with excuse after excuse of why he couldn’t do what God asked, and yet, every time God put down his excuses.
Even Jesus had a point where he desired something different than the will of the Father. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knew His time was coming to an end. He had spent the last 3 years preaching and evangelizing all over the place. He made followers but he also made a lot of enemies who didn’t want to believe that He was the Messiah. He knew that they were coming for Him that night. He knew the torture and humiliation He was about to endure. He understood the terrible death that he was about to suffer. He didn’t want to go through that and even admitted as much to the Father. However, Christ submitted to God’s will and allowed Himself to be put through absolute terror for our eternal salvation.
Perhaps God is calling you to do something you aren’t comfortable doing. Perhaps He requires you to let go of some deep anger. Perhaps He requires you to do something totally outside your comfort zone. Perhaps He simply asks you to take a leap of faith that other people would see and think to themselves, “Man, that guy is crazy.” When you come across times like that, think about these great men I just mentioned and how they all eventually submitted to God’s will and He did great things through them.
The next thing to remember is…
II. You cannot escape God or His will
Instead of serving as God had intended for him to serve, Jonah chose to flee from God. He thought of the land of Tarshish and thought to himself, “If only I can make it to Tarshish, I won’t have to preach to Nineveh. God surely won’t follow me all the way to Tarshish.” Jonah took off with this thought in mind. What Jonah didn’t take into account is that God wouldn’t have to follow him anywhere. God is omnipresent and you cannot escape Him. There is no where on Earth that is void from the presence of God. In Jeremiah 23:23-24, God states, “’Am I a God near at hand’ Says the Lord, ‘And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in the secret places, so I shall not see him?’ says the Lord; ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord.”
To look further at the omnipresence of God, let’s turn to Psalm 139:7-10. It says, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in sheol, behold You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.” The Psalmist was using this as an encouragement that there was no where that God could not be to guide him. The same holds true, however, to those who seek to run from God. His presence if everywhere and there is nowhere one can hide. Think about Adam in the Garden of Eden. He thought he could hide his nakedness from the Lord, but the Lord already knew what had happened and what would come of it.
What we have said about the presence of God is also true of the will of God. You cannot escape God’s will. God is almighty and all-powerful. His will is perfect and supreme above all others. We should be striving to turn to God’s will over our own in all things, yet sometimes (and I’d say quite often) we don’t. Jonah wasn’t just seeking to escape God’s presence, but also His will. God turned Jonah back around through a show of his power. He drew up a great storm and a great fish to bring Jonah back into the fold of his will.
Jonah isn’t the only Bible character that God had to do this with. Think about Moses, the leader of the Jewish people. Before he was the bold leader of Israel, Moses was a meek man. He was scared in a land that he didn’t know. He was a shepherd, a fugitive, and a man who already laid his roots in the new land. God told Moses that he had chosen him to lead His people out of captivity in Egypt. Moses however, threw out every excuse in the book in an attempt to not have to do what God was commanding of him. Moses asked, who am I to go before Pharaoh? God said, I will be with you. Moses asked, who should I even say sent me? God said, “I AM.” Moses asked, suppose they won’t believe me? God says, I’ll give you a sign. Moses said, I’m not eloquent enough! God said, that’s fine, I’ll send Aaron with you. God had an answer to any excuse that Moses had.
What about us? How do we excuse ourselves from doing the will of the Lord? Perhaps we say, “I’m not a people person.” Do we say, “I’m not a good enough public speaker.” Do we just get right down to the point and say, “I’m scared.” I’m telling you right now, God didn’t accept Jonah’s excuse. God didn’t accept Moses’ excuses. God’s not going to accept your excuse either.
III. We must submit ourselves to the will of God.
What Jonah should have learned here, and what we all can learn from this story, is the importance of submission to the will of God. Jonah had insight into the character of God and knew what God would expect of him. He knew that God expected mercy and grace. He knew that God wanted to give the people of Nineveh a chance to repent and turn to Him. In the end, Jonah finally did submit himself to the will of God; even if it was begrudgingly.
We see Jonah preaching to the people of Nineveh, and the preaching worked! According to the scriptures, the city repented of their sins and turned to the Lord. Even the King decreed a corporate repentance throughout the land! According to anyone else’s standard, this is a wonderful, if not miraculous turn of events! However, Jonah didn’t quite feel that way.
According to chapter 4, “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he became angry….(v.3) therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!” Jonah then took off to see what would become of the city. As he was waiting, God made a plant grow to give him shade. Then God sent a worm to destroy the plant. Jonah became angry about it and God used that to teach Jonah a lesson. Jonah was angry about the plant, but he could not control either it’s growth or it’s death. If he should have such pity for a plant, why should he not for so many human beings?
Jonah learned a lesson from this. God is in control of all. God is the one that can make a simple plant grow for a great purpose. God is the one that can change the heart of not just a few men, but many. God’s will is greater than ours as is His plan. Therefore, we must submit ourselves to God’s will, even if we don’t like it.
I think God did this with much foresight knowing the lesson we would learn from this. Perhaps it was more a lesson to us than it was a change in the hearts of men. This is evidenced by the fact that the people of Nineveh eventually turned back to their old ways. They would return to their pagan worship and turn their backs on God. God destroyed them in 612 B.C at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar’s father.
Jonah wasn’t the only one to learn about submission to the Lord, or to demonstrate it. After Moses had all his excuses shot down by the Lord, he really had no choice but to submit to His will. He would go on to get over his meekness, get over his anxiety about public speaking, get over his fear of rejection and go on to become a great leader of a nation. He would lead God’s people out of the land only after submitting himself to the will of the Lord.
Even Jesus demonstrates this same kind of submission to us. Remember from earlier that even though Jesus knew His sacrifice would be for the good of all men, He still didn’t want to go through it. He didn’t want to go through the mocking. He didn’t want to go through the suffering. He didn’t want to go through the terrible death he would suffer. Yet, He still submitted Himself to the will of the Father. What mattered to Jesus wasn’t that he didn’t want to suffer. What mattered was that God’s will was done, even if like Jonah, He didn’t necessarily want to do it.
Closing/Invitation
So, what does this all mean to us? For my invitation this morning, I invite you to take seriously the lesson learned by Jonah. Is God asking you to do something with your life that makes you uncomfortable or that you may not really want to do? Do it anyway. Submit yourself to the will of the Lord in your life. You cannot escape the will or the presence of the Lord. It will happen whether we want to be involved or not. But remember the examples set before us in scripture. Submit to the will of the Lord, for his will is superior to ours. His will is infallible. His will is perfect.
