Are You Running Away?

“But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah 1:3 (NKJV)


The Holy Spirit comes to us whispering in our ear. “This way my child; follow me and I will lead you.”

Maybe His voice comes as a warning; “No! Don’t go there! There are pitfalls, follow me, and I will lead you to safety.”

Or have you ever felt His burden placed on your heart? “You need to go and talk to Carl. He is really struggling and I want you to speak My words to him in his hour of need.”

He could have even spoken something like this to you: “You can’t sit back in the shadows on this one Jeff. You need to stand up and be counted. Stand up for My name’s sake lest you be counted as being in agreement. Don’t compromise. Don’t be afraid. I will go with you!”

You get the picture. The fact is that the Spirit of God speaks to us, but we don’t always want to listen. In fact, we often choose to turn the other way and refuse to answer what He has called us to do.

Jonah did this very thing! The sins of Nineveh were so great that God chose to send His prophet to tell the people of the city that judgment and destruction was coming. God is merciful. He was going to have His message delivered giving the people of Nineveh a chance to respond.

But Jonah didn’t want any part of it! The Ninevites were evil. In Jonah’s mind, they deserved God’s wrath. So he bought a ticket on a boat that was going in the opposite direction of where God had called him to go. Not only was it in the opposite direction, according to the Amplified Bible, Tarshish was the most remote of the Phoenician trading places of the time.

His intent was to get as far away from the thing that God had called him to do as he could. But the funny thing is, we can never outrun God. We can never escape His presence. We can never pull one over on Him so that He’s wondering, “Now where could Jeff be? He was here a few minutes ago!”

In Psalm 139:7-8 the writer asks, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there: If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.”

Jonah ran from God, but God pursued Jonah. Three after being thrown into a stormy sea and swallowed by a big fish, he was coughed up out of the belly of the fish onto the shores of Nineveh. He declared the word that God had given him to speak. An amazing thing happened. The people received God’s message, repented from their sins, and clothed themselves in sackcloth and ashes.

Forty days passed and they did not meet with God’s wrath. Rather they were introduced to God’s mercy. You see, scripture says that God is not willing that any man perish. Not everyone will receive His salvation. But as Romans 10 states:

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?”

Are you running from something God has told you to do? Stop! Turn around! Embrace the call of God in your life! Stop running! He knows the plans He has for you, but you must submit under His mighty hand.

Pray the prayer of David in Psalm 51:10-11.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.”

God bless you my brothers and sisters as you choose to surrender your vessels to the living God who loves you with an everlasting love.