Jonah’s story begins with the first two verses of the book of Jonah.
“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
God had a mission for Jonah. How does Jonah respond? The next verse tells us.
“Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.”
Look at those last seven words, “Away from the presence of the LORD.” Jonah makes a very human mistake. He thinks he can run away from God. No! Wherever you go, God is there and waiting for you.
Let’s continue reading the sad story of Jonah.
“He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.”
He keeps on trying to run from God, but it is futile. God is not done with him, or you yet.
We continue our reading in verse 4.
Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.
When you run from God, there is always a storm!
The Prodigal son wound up in a pig pen. Adam and Eve wound up outside of the Garden. Judas wound up hanging from a tree. Jonah wound up in the belly of a great fish. The storm always comes, eventually.
Let’s read one last verse. Verse 5,
The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
The sailors did nothing wrong, but they were afraid and Jonah went to sleep. Here is a great lesson in life: Your storm hurts others.
I’m Lonnie Davis and these are thoughts worth thinking.