You Can't Run From God

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.