Life Examples
No Fleeing the God of Everywhere
The Bible tells us that Jonah fled to Tarshish in an effort to escape from the presence of the Lord and thereby avoid his assignment to preach to a people he despised. He did this not because he thought he might fail, but because he feared he might succeed.
Apparently Jonah forgot what King David knew so well: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” (Ps. 139:7). The answer, of course, is that there is nowhere we can escape to that the Lord will not find us—God is everywhere. In fact, God said: “Am I a God who is near . . . and not a God far off? Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him? . . . Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” (Jer. 23:23, 24).
We serve the God who fills heaven and earth. Everywhere we are, there He is—and He was there long before we arrived. Therefore, we should not run from Him; rather, we should seek and embrace Him with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. And we should obey everything He commands us to do because surely He can and will bless us no matter where He tells us to go.
See the Life Principles Index for further study:
18. As children of a sovereign God, we are never victims of our circumstances.
1:12 — “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.”
Jonah understood immediately that his disobedience had put the ship in peril and that because of him, his shipmates could perish. So he told them to cast him into the rough, stormy waters—although doing so would probably result in his death (Jon. 1:14). Yet God did not abandon Jonah to die alone at sea. Rather, He sent a fish to swallow His prophet and to ensure that he would be in a place where he would repent and fulfill his God-given assignment. Jonah did exactly that. The moment the fish released him onto dry land, he headed for Nineveh (2:10).
1:16 — The men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.
God inspires prophecy not to satisfy our curiosity, but to prompt our faith in His grace and glory. He tells us about the future so that we might live well in the present and get ready for what’s to come.
Answers to Life’s Questions
How does God deal with our disobedience?
In the light of God’s omniscience and omnipresence, it’s easy to wonder why Christians still attempt to run from the Lord. Jonah certainly demonstrated that it could not be done, and yet many people still insist on trying. Why?
Sometimes we act out of pure selfishness. We believe we know what is best for us, regardless of what God says. Sometimes we balk out of simple fear. We worry that we might not succeed or that others will criticize our efforts or that our obedience will cost us too much. What we fail to recognize, however, is the much higher price of fleeing from the Lord.
Jonah paid dearly for his rebellion. Not only did he suffer embarrassment, terror, and guilt, but he also jeopardized the lives of men whom God wanted to save. Jonah overlooked two essentials that we should all keep in mind.
First, he incorrectly assumed that fleeing from God would release him from having to obey God. He never imagined how persistent the Lord could be when He called him to duty. Eventually Jonah found that God will pursue us in love, even to the depths of the sea, in order to conform us to His will and His plan for our lives. God simply will not be deterred by our disobedience.
Second, Jonah forgot that disobeying the Lord leads only to destruction—our own and those whom God wants to bless through us. How many people say, “I can do what I want. It’s my life”? No, it’s not. If you are a Christian, God tells you, “You are not your own.” In fact, “you have been bought with a price,” and both your body and your life belong to God (1 Cor. 6:19, 20). You cannot sin against the Lord without paying a terrible price and hurting others in the process.
Despite these awful realities, it is also true that God is willing to forgive. He kept after Jonah as long as it was necessary for the prophet to respond in obedience, so the people of Nineveh could hear God’s warning and repent. And He will do the same with you. Therefore, obey God and leave all the consequences of your obedience to Him. Any other course just isn’t worth it.
See the Life Principles Index for further study:
2:2 — “I called out of my distress to the LORD, and He answered me.”
God will never turn away from a truly repentant heart, even if that heart beats in a man who tried to run away from Him. The Lord often uses affliction, not to punish us but to bring us back to Him.
2:7 — “While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD.”
Sometimes it is only when we hit rock bottom that we are truly ready to repent. And God is so loving and gracious that no matter how frail, clumsy, or simple our prayer, He still answers with His abundant forgiveness and mercy.
3:1 — The word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time.
Did Jonah deserve a second chance to carry out God’s assignment? No. Neither do we. But God, in His mercy, is not about keeping score but is about shaping us into the likeness of His Son.
3:10 — When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them.
Repeatedly in Scripture, we see that God does not want to bring calamity or judgment upon anyone. So He pleads with us and urges us to repent. Only the God who is truly merciful and full of grace would go to such lengths to restore our relationship with Him. And that, of course, is why He sent Jesus (John 3:17, 18; Eph. 2).
4:6–8 — The LORD God appointed a plant . . . but God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day . . . God appointed a scorching east wind.
God watches over all the details of our lives. A plant, a worm, a wind—He prepares and uses them all to shape us into people who more closely resemble His Son.
4:11 — “Should I not have compassion on Nineveh?”
Jonah didn’t pity Nineveh, but God did. And He spared the Ninevites because He loves mercy, not judgment.