Jonah 1 & 2

Happy Friday! I'm joining the wonderful SheReadsTruth community again this week to discuss Jonah 1-2

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Jonah 1 opens and gets right to the point. Jonah ran from God. God specifically commanded Jonah to do something, but Jonah didn't want to do it, so He literally ran as far away from God as possible. {We do that, too, don't we? If we don't like something God tells us, we brush it off as something He didn't really say or something we misinterpretted. But, deep in our hearts, we know that isn't true.}

As I studied Jonah 1: 3, 6, I saw Jonah on a ship, in the midst of a horrible storm, running from God. And yet, the sailors came to him, hoping His God would have some kind of answer to their problem. They were looking for a savior to save them from the storm. What they didn't realize was that Jonah could point them to the Savior of their lives.

Seeing the interaction between Jonah and the captain of the ship reminded me that people, believers and non-believers, are always watching us, weighing our actions to see if we are living what we say we believe. As children of God, 2 Corinthians 5:17 says "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come."

This made me stop and ask myself do others see Jesus in me? In my actions? Even when life doesn't make sense and/or I do not want to obey God's command. Am I giving Him control over my life and allowing Him to make me new? 

Sometimes, like Jonah, I don't obey God. And just like God did to Jonah{Jonah 2:3}, He disciplines me.  But, as children of God, when we are disciplined by God, it is because He loves us so very much. Similar to the love a parent has for their child when they have to discipline them for a particular action.

Maybe, like Jonah, you are running from God. Or you have run from God, but you don't want to run anymore. Yet, you feel so far from Him. Jonah 2:7 reminds us that although we may forget Him, He never forgets us. Psalm 139:17,18 says "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you." He wants nothing more than for us to be reconciled to Him. Let's stop running from Him and instead run to Him. He's ready and waiting with open arms!

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