There is a story in the Holy Bible that talks about a man
named Jonah (Jonah 1-4). Jonah was called to do a
mighty work for God but because of his disobedience, Jonah was subjected to God’s
wrath. He was selected by God and ordered to prophesy to the City of Nineveh
that if they did not change their evil ways, God would destroy the city.
Jonah was so distraught over this assignment, he ran the other
way to another city in an attempt to avoid doing this thing for God. So Jonah
tried to escape via the sea and paid some fishermen to ferry him to the other
side. As soon as he got in the boat, God made the sea too turbulent to pass.
The men on the boat got scared, confronted Jonah and asked
him what manner of evil did he do against God that He would cause the sea to be
so violent. Jonah confessed what he did and they tossed his butt cheeks over
the starboard side of the boat!
God then sent a great fish (often erroneously described as a whale) to swallow him up. Jonah was in
the belly of the fish for three days and three nights (a "type" of Christ in the belly of the earth before the Resurrection). He suffered great tribulation in the gut
of the fish. Needless to say, Jonah did some serious prayin’ and reflecting in
the belly of that great fish (a "type" of the symbol for Believers in Christ).
Three days later, God made the great fish to vomit Jonah out on
dry land. It was a three day journey to Nineveh from where he was, but the
Bible said Jonah made the trip in one day (he no doubt ran the entire way) and when he got there, he cried. Ultimately, the reluctant missionary Jonah did preach to the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3) and told them EXACTLY what God told him to say! Jonah experienced the grace of God even though he was angered at the assignment he was given.
So this leads us to the moral of the story. Disobedience has
a mind of its own. Many men do not realize how much their disobedience can actually
affect the lives of people around them including their family and friends.
The first reaction to an adverse situation that comes upon us
is that it has to be someone else’s fault. We begin to point the finger at
others instead of looking in the mirror. Just like Jonah, we are fearful of the
assignment and we deflect and sneeze and cough and roll over and bark at the
moon in an attempt to stall for time.
God is not stupid. He is not going to forget what He told you
to do. He is going to get His way no matter what! Our disobedience only
prolongs the inevitable. You can head to Tarshish through Joppa or Memphis or
Vegas via boat, plane or train, but at the end of the day you will
go to Nineveh and do what God told you to do!
You become concerned about the inconvenience of what God
has asked you to do and the reaction of the people you are
addressing to what you have declared to them. Often times we run from our
destiny to the road traveled by the multitude because it is more comfortable
than facing
God alone. In the process, we lose relationship with God and expose
innocent people to the wrath of God because of our blatant disobedience.
It is very important for us to obey God’s instructions. Our
immediate response of reasoning or rationalizing or marginalizing what God has
asked us to do automatically puts us behind the eight ball. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken (incline your ear to God) is better than the fat of rams (burnt offerings)."(1 Sam. 15:22)
...In the end, failure
to complete the assignment could be a matter of life or death for us or someone
else.
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