Fleeing From
The Presence
Of The LORD
Now
the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai,
saying, “Go at once to
But
the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon
the sea that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid,
and each cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the
sea, to lighten it for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of
the ship and had lain down, and was fast asleep. The captain came and said to
him, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the
god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.
The
sailors said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots,
so that we may know on whose account this calamity has come upon us.” So they
cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Tell us why this
calamity has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from?
What is your country? And of what people are you?” “I am a Hebrew,” he replied.
“I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
Then the men were even more 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 so.
Jonah 1:1-10
Why
do people run away from God? It is because of anger, disappointment, despair,
disobedience, or rebellion woven from our own desires? The book of Jonah looks
at a prophet who rejected God’s call to deliver His word to the people of Ninevah. The story of Jonah should cause each of us to be
honest about our feelings towards the LORD. De we harbor resentment from His
leniency toward people we feel deserve judgment? Have we forgotten that God has
forgiven us? Are we ready to obey His call and leave the outcome to Him? The
story of Jonah illuminates our reactions to God and measures our willingness to
trust Him when we can’t understand His ways.
He pleases God best who trust Him most.
Our Daily Bread –