In Which Direction Are You Running?

“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.’ ”  (Jonah 1:1-2) Here we read a direct command to the prophet from God, saying to essentially rise up and go to Nineveh and speak out against their wickedness. Jonah had a choice to obey God and please Him or to run the other way. We read later in Verse 3, “But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presents of the Lord…” Jonah was given a direct command, which we later realize that had he obeyed initially, it would have made for a smoother journey. We can learn much from his decisions and the calamity late brought upon him. The consequences of Jonah fleeing were that “the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.” (Jonah1: 4)  How often do we come to the realization in our lives that we know what God want us to do, but we just simply “flee” in the opposite direction? Later, we reach the most famous part of the story of Jonah, where he ask the mariners on the ship to throw him overboard, as he knew that he was the reason God was causing the calamity on the sea. Once Jonah confessed that he feared the “…Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land,”  (Jonah1:9), the men realized he tried to flee from God. Once thrown overboard, we read that, “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.”  (Jonah1: 17)  It is here Jonah begins to change his tune and pray. How awful would it be to be swallowed by a great fish before deciding to change directions and run towards God instead of away from God? Sometimes in life when something tragic happens, people then turn to God. But we don’t have to wait for a tragic event like Jonah did in his life. Fortunately, for Jonah, the great fish vomited him up onto dry land and Jonah did go to Nineveh according to God’s word. Nineveh turned from its evil way and God did not bring disaster upon Nineveh. We can certainly learn from Nineveh turning from evil and the positive response from God as much as we can learn from Jonah fleeing God early on and the tragic results it brought upon him. We see early in the story that Nineveh and Jonah are running in the wrong direction away from God and the results of disobedience. What direction are you running today? God wants all to run towards Him.