What are you running from? Your past? A bad decision? A challenge? A threat? An opportunity? A calling you just can’t shake?
Jonah was called to be a messenger to a people in real need of making a course correction. They were heading in the wrong direction and God had just the man to gain their attention. There was only one problem, Jonah was called to go but he said no.
Is there something you know you were called to do but for whatever reason, you postponed, delayed or ran away from it?
Jonah’s decision to run from the Lord brought unnecessary calamity, distress and distraction, not just for himself but to those closest to him. His life is a great reminder that we don’t live in a vacuum. The decisions we make have lasting affects and impact on others in our lives.
Jonah was given a second chance. He got it together and the people of Nineveh made the turn around. They repented and God relented. They were drifting and being drawn away from their destiny. But by God’s grace, compassion and abounding love, the Lord was slow to take corrective action. The result was an entire community being transformed.
Jonah hated the outcome that God put into place. He was hoping for lightning to strike and punishment to be inflicted. He was so mad at God’s plan that he went out to pout under a sprout in the scorching heat.
The shade God provided eased his discomfort but in short order it withered and died. Jonah was irritated once again and grew faint from the heat.
God brought the heat and used it to remind Jonah that while Jonah was concerned for the well being of a leafy plant, God was concerned with the well being of more than a hundred a twenty thousand people who lacked the ability to tell the difference between right and wrong.
The comparison made the obvious more clear. We tend to worry about our petty creature comforts when God has a heart for his creation.
There are times in our lives that we all need a reality check. We need to review our priorities and determine if we are on the run and ruining our lives or are we willing to make adjustments, lean not on our own understanding and trust that the discomforts we endure can lead to life changing realities in our lives and the lives of others.
Are you out to pout under a sprout or are you open to going to where God is showing?
It’s not too late to reevaluate, get back on track and fulfill the calling of a lifetime!
Come on in and out from under the heat. God is up to something good!
(Inspired by the book of Jonah)
