Were she still alive, my mother
would tell you that one sure way for me not to do something was to repeatedly nag
me about it. Even today, the more anyone nags me, the less likely I will do it.
I will confess that it is not an endearing quality to have. But I will resist
and procrastinate and neglect the task at hand if anyone starts to badger me
about it. (I need to add, for the record, that my wife, Susan, never nags or perhaps
she has simply found a craftier way of
doing it!)
So, perhaps, I can muster up a
little empathy for Jonah. God wants him to do a difficult task for him; go to a
foreign nation and give them hell for their rotten behaviour. Like that is
going to go well over in Nineveh. “Thank you very much, God, for your trust
in me but I have business in Tarshish, I’ll get back to you, later.” So, he books passage on the first available boat
out of the country and hightails it as far from God and Nineveh as he can get, “away
from the presence of God,” repeated twice in verse three, making sure we understand
Jonah’s motive. Thus, Jonah “sets out
to flee”.
Let’s be clear about this. This is
not mere procrastination, putting off something difficult or unpleasant for a
future time. This is outright disobedience. This is refusing a command straight
from God. This is open, although cowardly defiance of what God has asked for.
This is intentional rebellion against God’s need of Jonah. Jonah has a whale of
a problem. He thinks he can outdistance God. He believes he can escape his responsibilities.
He tries to outmaneuver God and hide away somewhere until it all blows over or
God finds someone else. So, he chose the wrong path, the wrong way, the road to
sin. But he soon discovers that he cannot escape God’s call.
“I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me." (Psalm 139: 7 -10)
There is a character in one of my
fantasy novels whose favourite saying is that it is better to get the job done
than to worry and fuss over doing it. There is a great deal of wisdom in that. Especially
when it comes to responding to God’s call upon our lives. I am not meaning
being called into ministry or to become a missionary. I am primarily meaning our baptismal call, when
we have accepted God’s Grace and Mercy through Jesus Christ. We are given a new
road to walk, a new task to perform, new words to say, new lives to give. Our
Nineveh moment might be right in our own neighbourhoods and communities, places
that need to see, hear and feel the Love of God, demonstrated by our obedience
to follow Jesus. “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up
your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)
Give up our own way – this is
indeed a road less traveled by so many of us. It didn’t work for Jonah. It won’t
work for you or me.
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
No comments:
Post a Comment