Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose 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, away from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:1-17 ESV)
God often uses desperate moments to wake us up. It is only when things start to fall apart do we finally open our eyes and see what God has been trying to show us all along.
I asked my friends on Facebook, Twitter, and through emails to finish the sentence that is the title of this blog: "I stopped running from God when..." The responses that I received have been all over the board. One man said he stopped running from God when He caught him. A dear lady in our life said that she stopped running when she realized that she couldn't out run God. Another friend said that He also realized that he couldn't out run God. Some other answers I got were as follows:
I had been dating my wife for less than a year when I received a phone call from my ex wife asking that I send my oldest son back to Arkansas to live with her and my other two children. I remember the sense of dread that came over me after I got off the phone with her, a dread that I can only describe as the worst and most intense pain and anguish I had ever experienced. I remember being in our master bathroom on my hands and knees crying out to God in agony and through the tears asking Him, "Why is this happening?" I can recall the Sunday morning after I took them to go back to Arkansas being on my face in the front of our church crying and squalling like a baby in front of my whole church. And I distinctly remember between tears and what can only be explained as an amount of slobber that only a man my size can generate, telling God that I would start back down the path that He asked me to start down over eighteen years before. I would like to say that I haven't had periodic setbacks but, to tell the truth, I have. I have had days where I was so far away from God that I thought to myself, "What am I doing? Why did I do that?" And I remember the promise that I made to God that day in church that I would follow Him and do what He told me to. I am not perfect by any sense and there may be those out there that doubt this but I can tell you I have seen and continue to see God's hand evident and present in my life. Even when I do something against His will, I am still fortunate enough to look back and see where I have been and see where I am going.
In the scripture above, Jonah is trying to run from God's call and run from the message that God told him to deliver. I am sure that he had his reasons but they weren't God's reasons.
Jonah claims to fear the Lord, but his actions contradict his confession. It takes a storm to wake him up.
The thing that really blows my mind is that through this whole "storm" that Jonah was sound asleep. How many of us are "asleep" to the call of God even when there is a storm raging in our lives? How many times does someone have to get pulled over by the police and given a warning before they slow down? How many times can you drive home from a party "buzzed" before you have an accident and ruin someone's life? How many different times can we ignore the "call" of God on our lives before time runs out? I think the real question is does God always pursue those who run from Him?
In Jonah's case, God had a particular mission in mind for a particular person. And God hounded Jonah until he ultimately obeyed. I have been told where the Puritans called God the "Hound of Heaven." The great friend and mentor that told me that also asked me this question, "Try and think of someone who caught God? He always catches us."
But in my experience, I found that God didn't initially pursue me and the only explanation I can come up with is that He wanted me to learn a valuable lesson through my experience, He knew that my running away would eventually bring me back to Him. Jesus speaks of this in the parable of the prodigal son. The father allowed the son to leave home with his inheritance. Knowing that even though he didn't chase him, the hardships created by his choices would bring him back to his senses and lead him back home.
Whether by pursuing someone or choosing not to, God's goal is the same: He works to firmly, lovingly reach out to those who run from Him. Thank God for second, third, and fourth chances.
If you are reading this and are "running" from God, ask yourself, "When is enough, enough?" It took a major storm to blow in my life to get my attention, I pray that it doesn't take a storm to reach you. I pray that you would bend to the will of God and go and do whatever it is that He is asking from you.
This is the starting point for me in doing what God is asking me to do...What is He asking of you?
God often uses desperate moments to wake us up. It is only when things start to fall apart do we finally open our eyes and see what God has been trying to show us all along.
I asked my friends on Facebook, Twitter, and through emails to finish the sentence that is the title of this blog: "I stopped running from God when..." The responses that I received have been all over the board. One man said he stopped running from God when He caught him. A dear lady in our life said that she stopped running when she realized that she couldn't out run God. Another friend said that He also realized that he couldn't out run God. Some other answers I got were as follows:
- I hit rock bottom
- He/She filed for divorce
- The pregnancy test came back positive
- I was in the back seat of a police car
- I woke up in the gutter
- I realized that I had no other place to go
- People found out my secret
- I realized the drinking and the drugs were getting me nowhere
- I was so broken I had nowhere else to go for healing and the true love and longing I had always been looking for
- I realized no matter how bad I wanted to be, or how much I thought I was...I was not in control
I had been dating my wife for less than a year when I received a phone call from my ex wife asking that I send my oldest son back to Arkansas to live with her and my other two children. I remember the sense of dread that came over me after I got off the phone with her, a dread that I can only describe as the worst and most intense pain and anguish I had ever experienced. I remember being in our master bathroom on my hands and knees crying out to God in agony and through the tears asking Him, "Why is this happening?" I can recall the Sunday morning after I took them to go back to Arkansas being on my face in the front of our church crying and squalling like a baby in front of my whole church. And I distinctly remember between tears and what can only be explained as an amount of slobber that only a man my size can generate, telling God that I would start back down the path that He asked me to start down over eighteen years before. I would like to say that I haven't had periodic setbacks but, to tell the truth, I have. I have had days where I was so far away from God that I thought to myself, "What am I doing? Why did I do that?" And I remember the promise that I made to God that day in church that I would follow Him and do what He told me to. I am not perfect by any sense and there may be those out there that doubt this but I can tell you I have seen and continue to see God's hand evident and present in my life. Even when I do something against His will, I am still fortunate enough to look back and see where I have been and see where I am going.
In the scripture above, Jonah is trying to run from God's call and run from the message that God told him to deliver. I am sure that he had his reasons but they weren't God's reasons.
Jonah claims to fear the Lord, but his actions contradict his confession. It takes a storm to wake him up.
The thing that really blows my mind is that through this whole "storm" that Jonah was sound asleep. How many of us are "asleep" to the call of God even when there is a storm raging in our lives? How many times does someone have to get pulled over by the police and given a warning before they slow down? How many times can you drive home from a party "buzzed" before you have an accident and ruin someone's life? How many different times can we ignore the "call" of God on our lives before time runs out? I think the real question is does God always pursue those who run from Him?
In Jonah's case, God had a particular mission in mind for a particular person. And God hounded Jonah until he ultimately obeyed. I have been told where the Puritans called God the "Hound of Heaven." The great friend and mentor that told me that also asked me this question, "Try and think of someone who caught God? He always catches us."
But in my experience, I found that God didn't initially pursue me and the only explanation I can come up with is that He wanted me to learn a valuable lesson through my experience, He knew that my running away would eventually bring me back to Him. Jesus speaks of this in the parable of the prodigal son. The father allowed the son to leave home with his inheritance. Knowing that even though he didn't chase him, the hardships created by his choices would bring him back to his senses and lead him back home.
Whether by pursuing someone or choosing not to, God's goal is the same: He works to firmly, lovingly reach out to those who run from Him. Thank God for second, third, and fourth chances.
If you are reading this and are "running" from God, ask yourself, "When is enough, enough?" It took a major storm to blow in my life to get my attention, I pray that it doesn't take a storm to reach you. I pray that you would bend to the will of God and go and do whatever it is that He is asking from you.
This is the starting point for me in doing what God is asking me to do...What is He asking of you?
Comments
Post a Comment