I was reading in Jonah yesterday from Jonah chapter 1. You know the story…God calls Jonah (a Hebrew prophet) to go to Nineveh. Nineveh at that time was a great city. It was a great big city, but is was also a great wicked city. Obviously, Jonah didn’t like his orders. So he tries to run from God. I know that sounds crazy. Even as I type it sounds absurd. Run from God! How can we run from God? We can’t get away from Him. We know that. Yet, how often do we attempt to do the very same thing?
When you see people in need, what is the first thing you do? Do you reach out or do you turn, hoping they didn’t see you look? Have you taken a different path or turned around because you saw someone you didn’t want to see…coming your way? Have you been reluctant to serve in some area simply because you are scared? I use these examples simply because I could say yes to all of the above. I’ve turned my head, turned around and said yes to fear & no to God many times in my life. In fact, I still do more times than I like to admit.
The call from God will not be easy. It’s not meant to be. If it were easy, we wouldn’t need God. We could do it on our own. God calls us to tasks that will reveal His glory to the world. For that to happen, it cannot be a task we can easily do.
God rang and Jonah ran. It didn’t work out too well for Jonah. At least not at first. And it won’t work well for us either. Not that a fish will swallow us…but the world might. We’ll miss out on great moments to see God. We’ll miss out on blessings that He has reserved just for us. We’ll miss out…simply because of fear.
What has God called you to do that frightens you? How long have you been running from God’s calling? It’s time to stop running & start relying on the power and the promises of God. Then maybe this could be said when you do… “Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord…” (Jonah 1:16)
KC Brock Said:
on October 11, 2011 at 4:14 pm
I like your blog! Insightful and thought provoking!