Running like Jonah…

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I’ve always wanted to be a runner.  To have that feeling of the ground moving easily and swiftly below me.

I see amazing people while I’m driving around.  Maybe you are one of them.  The ones that breathlessly pass me up while I sit waiting for the light to change.  Ya, one of those runners.  It’s one of my life bucket goals.

For now, though, I’m not. Far from it, really.

Yet, I am a runner.  Just ask my God. He told me just this week that I was a runner. Not in a good kind of losing-weight type of way.  Nope, this was in a bad sort of way.

Have you ever heard of Jonah? He was a runner.

God told Him to go to the people of Nineveh and give them a message. He told Jonah to tell the people they would be destroyed in 40 days unless they repented.

But Jonah was a runner… And he ran away.   He boarded a ship going the OPPOSITE way from where Nineveh was.

I imagine Jonah had his excuses.

Well, I don’t even have to imagine his first excuse… When the story is all over, we see that God saved the people (boy, I hope I didn’t ruin the ending of the story for you!)  He said to God, I knew you would have compassion on these people and you wouldn’t destroy them.  Which is why I didn’t want to come!!  There would be reason number one.  He knew God would have mercy on them (and, ummm, I guess he didn’t want that!) 😯   Jonah 4:1-4

Some other excuses Jonah may have given:

  • He didn’t like the people in Ninevah.
  • He didn’t want to go.
  • He may have thought it was too hard.
  • Fear, do you think he had fear?

This whole story is just one of my favorites.  {Don’t ask my dear brothers how often we read it as children … They may just start reciting the whole thing, word for word…!!!}  Really.

Nowadays though, this Jonah story looks different. Nowadays, it’s not just a cool story about some man and a big whale. (Oh, I’m giving more of the story away)

No, nowadays I see myself in this story. I am that runner. I am that person hearing God tell me something He wants me to do.  I am the one with the big list of reasons why I don’t want to go where He tells me to go…

  • But God, I don’t know how to do that!
  • But it’s going to be too hard.
  • But it’s going to take more time!
  • But I just got everything figured out, why do I have to learn something else?

……. Need I continue?

And God opens up Jonah. Chapter One.

So I say, ‘Ok God, I’ll do it.  I’ll start, and I’ll do the part I know how to do. And we will see about the rest of it.’  P.S. That sounds like something Jonah could have done. If he would have gone to Nineveh and walked around the town with his message… But didn’t talk to anyone!  Right?  Sigh. 

Ok, so I still don’t have the right attitude.

THEN, as I sit down to write this little lesson I learned, It HIT me!!!  I was just in BED sick, so, so sick with something I have NEVER had in my adult life. Strep throat. For three whole days! 

Really!?! God has a sense of humor, my friends!

This present day Jonah… A.K.A. as Trudie is going to shower off that whale scent and figure out how to get to Nineveh.

Whew!  Now that I’ve said that, I better also add… Keep your eyes peeled for an exciting announcement! Coming at the end of next week! Meanwhile, pray for me to stop running!

Have you ever found yourself in a Jonah situation?  What jobs have you run from?  What do you do when you find yourself running?

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