Short Thought continued.....
Which way will you choose?
Jonah, a prophet of The Lord, was given a tough mission:
to take a message to the people of Nineveh announcing God’s judgement against them.
Jonah heard God. But his response was to go in the opposite direction;
he wanted to get far away from God and not accept what He was asking of him.
Jonah decided to get on board a ship to Tarshish;
this had major implications both for himself and others.
The Lord sent a storm and the ship’s crew understandably became
inquisitive and fearful, for they were in great danger.
Jonah who was identified as the culprit and cause of the storm
was thrown overboard into the raging sea.
The Lord sent a big fish to swallow Jonah; for three days and nights Jonah
sat in the fish’s belly where he came to recognise his desperate situation.
In response he cries out to God:
‘“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and He answered me.
I called to You from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!
You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea.
The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.
Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence.
Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple…
…I will offer sacrifices to You with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows.
For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”’
(Jonah 2:1-4 & 9 NLT)
As Jonah turns back to God in repentance
‘the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.’ (v9)
God then repeats His command to Jonah:
“Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh,
and deliver the message I have given you.” (v3:2)
This time Jonah obeys.
The people of Nineveh believe the message Jonah speaks; they repent of their sin,
turn back to God and God spares and saves the people and the city.
God will give us tough missions; He will ask us to do things which make us uncomfortable,
which stretch us, which require sacrifices, which require faith over understanding,
which require us to look to Him alone.
He also gives us a choice as to whether we obey and follow or
whether we go our own way and take the consequences.
We can choose to go to our ‘Tarshish’ and try to get away from God
and what He is asking of us.
The amazing thing is that when we do this, God gives us a way back to Him.
The braver decision is to go with God on our ‘Nineveh’ mission.
This will require great courage.
God will provide all that is needed for us to ‘Get up and go’ and to accomplish His work.
What ‘Nineveh’ mission is God asking of you?
How is He asking you to ‘Get up and go’?
Which way will you choose?
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