It has been a great week! I have seen God at work! I have been greatly encouraged through my reading! I have been moved during times of prayer! I have been touched by people that I have met! How blessed I am to be a child of God and part of His family! How has your week been?
I have been challenged as I have meditated on the life of Jonah and his dealing with the all-powerful God. I have begun to realize just how similar I am to Jonah in my attitudes. It has been hard going in some respects. But it also has been a joy to wrestle with these realities as God speaks to me through His word. Jonah was a prophet. He spoke the words of God! He knew God and watched Him at work in the lives of his fellow Jews during an unprecedented time of expansion and growth throughout Israel. He was in a very privileged position. Then one day God came to challenge him in one area of his life. The area of love! Did Jonah have the same love as his Heavenly Father? Yes, he seemed to be a faithful prophet to his own people. Yes, he seemed to be obedient when all was going well. But did he have the same understanding of love as God – the one who chose him to be a prophet and spokesperson for Him?
It only takes three verses to realize that something was amiss with Jonah. He was asked to go on an important assignment by God. As a matter of fact, the assignment was one of life and death! Jonah, however, was not so impressed with the assignment and decided to do a ‘runner’. We are told that he ran away from the Lord and headed in the exact opposition direction to where he was sent to go. As I considered Jonah’s assignment or mission I began to resonate with Jonah! I began to understand his predicament! Sadly, as I wrestled with this, I realized how my heart was too closely aligned with Jonah’s! Are you like me? Do you to sympathize with Jonah? Would you do a ‘runner’ too?
The sad truth is that we have done, and will continue to do, a ‘runner’ if our hearts are not in sync with our Father’s heart! You see the question that confronted Jonah – and confronts every one of us – is whether we are going to obey God’s will for our lives. And behind this claim of obedience is the deepest consideration of them all – the eternal plan and purpose of God! God’s plan is to bring the nations to Himself! And we have been given this assignment! This is where we measure our love – do we love and care about the spiritual wellbeing of people of other cultures like our Heavenly Father does? Will we go?