The Lord’s message came to Jonah son of Amittai, “Go immediately to Nineveh, that large capital city, and announce judgment against its people because their wickedness has come to my attention.” Instead, Jonah immediately headed off to Tarshish to escape from the commission of the Lord. He traveled to Joppa and found a merchant ship heading to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard it to go with them to Tarshish, far away from the Lord. But the Lord hurled a powerful wind on the sea. Such a violent tempest arose on the sea that the ship threatened to break up! The sailors were so afraid that each cried out to his own god and they flung the ship’s cargo overboard to make the ship lighter. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold below deck, had lain down, and was sound asleep. The ship’s captain approached him and said, “What are you doing asleep? Get up! Cry out to your god! Perhaps your god might take notice of us so that we might not die!” The sailors said to one another, “Come on, let’s cast lots to find out whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us.” So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out. They said to him, “Tell us, whose fault is it that this disaster has overtaken us? What’s your occupation? Where do you come from? What’s your country? And who are your people?” He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Hearing this, the men became even more afraid and said to him, “What have you done?” (The men said this because they knew that he was trying to escape from the Lord, because he had previously told them.) Because the storm was growing worse and worse, they said to him, “What should we do to you so that the sea will calm down for us?” He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea so that the sea will calm down for you, because I know it’s my fault you are in this severe storm.” Instead, they tried to row back to land, but they were not able to do so because the storm kept growing worse and worse. So they cried out to the Lord, “Oh, please, Lord, don’t let us die on account of this man! Don’t hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. After all, you, Lord, have done just as you pleased.” So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. The men feared the Lord greatly and earnestly vowed to offer lavish sacrifices to the Lord. Jonah 1
New English Translation
Jonah. What a pain in the butt, right? Well, don’t be in too much of a hurry to call him a turkey just yet. You know, we act like him all the time. That time you watched a movie you knew you shouldn’t watch, said that thing you knew you shouldn’t have said, didn’t do the thing you knew you were supposed to do, etc. Jonah you are in those moments.
So, when we know what God has asked us to do and we don’t do it, we’re being a Jonah. But, what does that mean regarding what we were asked to do? Well, just like with Jonah, God’s going to keep giving us a chance to do the right thing. We run, and we run, and somehow He keeps putting in front of us the opportunity to make the right decision. It’s up to us whether we’re going to take it.
Another important thing to note is this: Don’t be discouraged by the times you don’t walk in what God asked you to. He’s much smarter than we like to give Him credit for. Just because we’re not doing our part doesn’t mean He can’t redeem pieces of our mistakes. That’s what He did with Jonah. Though Jonah should have never been on that boat, God used that mistake as an opportunity to get the attention of the pagan sailors. Because Jonah was there, those sailors began to get to know God whereas before then, they were worshipping their own false “gods.”
Now, don’t get me wrong, veering from God’s plan is never a good or right choice, and by no means should we ever be proud that we did that. However, I am saying that instead of letting shame for the mistakes consume you, rejoice that God was able to bring something good out of it. When we live looking at what God is doing rather than dwelling on what we did wrong, we live a much more positive and happier life. Plus, what we spend time thinking about is what we begin doing. If we dwell on mistakes, we’ll begin making those mistakes. If we dwell on the goodness of God, we’ll begin displaying His goodness to those around us.
So, you’ve run, I’ve run, we have ALL run from God’s plan a time or two (or twenty). You’re not alone. In our human nature, we’re bound to make mistakes. What sets us apart from the world is the redemption factor. If we choose to repent (meaning telling God we’re sorry, asking for His help, and actively choosing not to live in that bad way), then He is able to redeem that situation by showing us what He was able to do with it, and guide us in how to live differently. We have hope because God is more powerful than we are. No matter how many or how big of mistakes we make, God is always capable of doing (and is doing) more and bigger miracles.
