Running From God

What made this program so exciting was that every week the character he played was staying just one step ahead of the law. He was running from the law because he had been falsely accused of killing his wife. He had been convicted and sentenced to prison, but somehow he escaped.

After he escaped, his one goal was to find the man he had seen leaving the scene of the crime. He did not know a lot about the man, except that he had only one arm.

Some weeks he would come very close to catching the man, but somehow the man always managed to escape. Likewise, as he traveled across the country seeking to capture this man, he had many close calls with the law but was always able to escape and run to the next town Always he sought the man he saw leaving the scene of his wife’s murder, and always he was fleeing from the law.

That character reminds us a lot of people who SPEND THEIR WHOLE LIVES RUNNING FROM GOD, in much the same way a fugitive runs from the police.

This is what Jonah did as soon as God gave him an evangelistic assignment he did not wish to carry out. Then he soon found out something that most of us have yet to learn...A MAN CAN NOT RUN AWAY FROM GOD!

When we try to run from God we are admitting some things. For instance...

I. OUR RUNNING FROM GOD IS AN ADMISSION WE HAVE HEARD FROM GOD.

If this were not true, then why would we be running?

Look at Jonah 1:1-2. We read, “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.”

Jonah heard from God and knew exactly what God wanted him to do.

Illus: When you talk to some people they want to give the impression they would like to do God’s will, but God won’t tell them what it is. In other words, they would like you to believe it is not their fault they are walking in sin; it is God’s fault.

There is not a person here who does not know what God wants him to do.

The problem is that people find themselves in the same dilemma Jonah found himself. They only have one life and their plans are contrary to God’s.

The Bible states that Jonah clearly heard the voice of God.

Verses 1-2 say, “Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah...saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.”

WHAT DID JONAH DO? He did the opposite of what God told him to do. HE RAN IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION!

Now remember what I told you, OUR RUNNING FROM GOD IS AN ADMISSION WE HAVE HEARD FROM GOD! Otherwise we would not be running!

People are no different today than Jonah was in his day.

For example, God can speak to a man’s heart about...

• Witnessing to someone, and he will go everywhere except to that person’s house.

• Praying, and he will have time for everything except prayer.

• Tithing, and he will have money for everything except his tithe.

• Going to church, and it is amazing -- he will be too sick to go to church, but not too sick on Moonday to go to work, or other places he wants to go.

The problem today is not that people do not know what God wants them to do. The problem is that Satan has seen to it they have filled the life God has given them to use for Him with so many other things.

When Jonah heard the voice of God, he did what many today are doing. He ran in the opposite direction as fast as his legs, and that boat, would carry him.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS IRONIC? This is the kind of reaction you would expect from a heathen, not from a child of God! Yet, we can’t help but wonder how many times we have done the same thing.

The lost world walks in the darkness of sin, but we are children of the light. Christians should know better!

WHEN GOD SPEAKS TO A CHRISTIAN HE SHOULD RESPOND AS PAUL DID ON THAT DAMASCUS ROAD. THE CHRISTIAN SHOULD SAY, “LORD, WHAT WILT THOU HAVE ME TO DO?”

OUR RUNNING FROM GOD IS AN ADMISSION WE HAVE HEARD FROM HIM!

II. OUR RUNNING FROM GOD IS AN ADMISSION WE BELIEVE WE CAN ESCAPE.

That is, the reason we even try to run is because WE BELIEVE WE CAN ESCAPE. Why else would we run?

There is no doubt about it. Jonah knew what God wanted him to do but he felt he could outrun God and do what he wanted to with his life.