God's Response:
The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: "Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce My judgement against it because I have seen how wicked its people are." But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord.
Jonah 1:1-3
If you rebel against the Lord's commands and refuse to listen to Him, then His hand will be as heavy upon you as it was upon your ancestors.
1 Samuel 12:15
Our Takeaway:
Jonah knew that God had a specific job for him. He just didn't want to do it. So Jonah decided to go as far in the opposite direction form Nineveh as he could. The consequences of that decision were dramatic.
When God gives us direction through His Word, we may run from them out of fear or stubbornness, claiming that God is asking too much. It may have been fear or anger at God's request that made Jonah run. But running got him into worse trouble. And in the end, Jonah still had to do what God had asked in the first place. Obeying God from the start prevents many problems later on.
God's Challenge:
Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit... Turn back and live!
Ezekiel 18:31-32
Big T's Thought To Ponder:
I can honestly say that in the almost 20 years I have been in business for myself, my actions were often guided by other people; in my 48 years of life, I can honestly say that 45 of them were guided by the ways of this secular world and not the Holy Spirit. The only obedience in my life was to selfish desires of a fallen world.
What a travesty of the perfect and Divine plan of God looking back today! The One who created me, who has bought me for a price, who sustains me daily, is the One I pushed to the back of the bus and the One that I put on the back burner in order to please the fickle opinions of transient minds. For me it was the fear of mans non-acceptance by a worldly standard; I thought I could find acceptance, joy, peace and happiness through obedience in serving myself and mortal man. But I was sincere - I was sincerely wrong!
How can we escape from the fear of man and his acceptance? We can only escape this bondage and captivity by seeking a personal relationship with our Creator, focusing on who He is through His Word and devoting our time to Him. Developing a deeper understanding of His Power and the non-existent power of mankind in comparison.
We must remember that He holds heaven and earth, the present and eternity, welfare and calamity, and the keys to every human heart in his Hand - "He's got the whole world in His hands". There is no one else we try to impress who wields such power. Not even a close runner-up!
God's prescription for our obedience is to let Him rule our lives and fill our hearts. I failed at this for 45 years, most of us do. I was more concerned about being rejected by others, having others laughing at me, criticizing me, looking down on me and shutting me out of their circles.
Instead, we should set our minds on things of above, let the awesome prestige of God occupy our time, our money, our minds and our hearts. He alone is where are true acceptance is found. He alone can comfort us, He made us and it is He who created the foundation of this world and the incomprehensible vastness of the heavens, He tells the waves of the oceans where to stop and the sun where to rise each morning, He moves the mountains and breaths the stars... Who else would guide our paths?
It was a delusion of my sinful and lost ways that caused me to place more value on human opinion than on God. I knew of God, but I didn't know God... I didn't have a relationship with God; so I had no clue, I was blind to who my mighty creator really was. I was a hypocrite about it: I stressed my independence and freedom, yet enslaved myself to public opinion and the shifting sands of culture and a fallen human perspective.
God calls His servants to be released from captivity. The spirit that is full of Him will not be deluded. His opinion alone matters, and it is liberating. Stand firm on His truth, never be moved, and let fear of worldly acceptance be far from your heart. The way that seems right often isn't.
1 John 2:15-17
