You can run, but you can’t hide. That might be one of the themes of the book of Jonah. Jonah tried to run away from God, but God wouldn’t let him go. The Lord had a mission for Jonah to go Nineveh and preach. Jonah, however, boarded a ship going in the opposite direction.
The scripture says, “Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up” (Jonah 1:4). It was a divine storm that God sent to get Jonah’s attention. After Jonah asked the sailors to throw him overboard into the sea (because he knew he was the problem), he felt he had hit them bottom when “…the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah” (Jonah 1:17).
Can you see God’s activity? He was in hot pursuit of Jonah. The Lord was reaching out to Jonah wanting to get his attention. Do you know that God will send a storm into your life if he needs to get your attention? Do you know that the Lord will let you hit the bottom if that is what it takes to get your attention? Jonah literally found himself at the bottom of the ocean. Jonah had to hit the bottom of the ocean, before he would look up again and call on the name of His God. Jonah was running, but God was chasing after him.
Perhaps Jonah thought God was just after him to punish him. When Jonah realized that he was the one who put all of the sailors on board the ship in danger, he asked them to throw him overboard. He had given up hope and thought he deserved only death and judgment. The main reason that Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh was that he did not feel they deserved an opportunity to discover God’s mercy and forgiveness. Now, Jonah himself feels that he doesn’t deserve a second chance either. He believed that God could never forgive him for running away. Jonah didn’t think grace was a possibility.
Maybe some of you have felt that way. Or maybe you feel that way now. Maybe you have run so far and so hard for so long that you feel you are drowning in a sea of guilt and regret.
God didn’t send the storm so that Jonah would sink. God didn’t allow Jonah to hit bottom so he could drown. God sent the storm so Jonah would turn around. God was trying to get Jonah’s attention.
The writer of Hebrews wrote, “… the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son” (Hebrews 12:6) and “God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness” (Hebrews 12:10).
These verses tell us that God allows some storms into our lives as an act of love. God must allow some discipline to get our attention. That is what God was doing with Jonah. And there are most likely times in our lives where God has had to do the same as well. I am not saying that every “storm” and trying circumstance is always God’s discipline, but some are. When things are out of control, sometimes the best thing to do is to check your heart and attitude. Ask the Lord, “Is this discipline? Are you seeking to get my attention?”
If so, know that it is because God absolutely loves you. He is not chasing you to “get you” – at least not to harm you. He chases you to get your attention, so ultimately he can get your heart. So you can run from God, but you can’t hide. And that’s the Word.
Tags: David Yarborough, Jonah, st. simons community church, the brunswick news, What's the Word?