The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because their wickedness has come up before Me.” However, Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD’s presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish…. Then the LORD hurled a violent wind onto the sea, and such a violent storm came up on the sea that the ship threatened to break apart…. They said to him, “What should we do to you to calm this sea that’s against us?”… He answered them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea so that it may quiet down for you, for I know I’m to blame for this violent storm that’s against you.”
Street preaching has never been an easy job, and anyone who is called to it must come equipped with a thick-skinned hide for unholy accusations and feet that are able to stand toe-to-toe with the nastiest dissenters. But when Jonah got the call, his feet just weren’t in it.
Jonah ran into some stiff head winds during his flight from God’s orders. That’s because God’s mercy and love don’t always dress in their nicest clothes. Sometimes God loves us as he did Jonah – with hardship. He knows that his plans hold our only hope for joy and fulfillment. He further knows that when our own plans dwindle into disarray, we will turn to him with a passion we might never have known had it not been for his love showing up in a less than a favorable light – and making everything make sense again.
Look At It This Way …
A Final Thought:
- Keep praying.
- Keep listening.
- Keep doing faithfully the things you do know.
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