When God is Leading You Where You don't Want to Go

Ever heard of Jonah?

I've heard the story time and time again in Sunday School, Church, or in the form of a reminder. But incase you haven't, here's a quick recap.

In my Bible, the caption above Jonah chapter 1 reads, "Jonah Flees From the Lord," so we already know there's trouble in River City with a capital T. It's probably not a good sign if your first Bible cameo is the scene where you're running from God.

So what was Jonah's mission? Well, what's our mission? As Christians, we are supposed to live the Good New and share the Good News. To know Jesus and make Jesus known. There's a whole lot of sin in this big, wide world, but luckily, there's enough Jesus to go around ("the darkness shall not overcome the light." John 1:5).

So God tells Jonah, "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me" (Jonah 1:2).

Wicked city. Mission from God. Faithful disciple.

Well, almost...

"But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord" (Jonah 1:3).

Just FYI, there's no such thing as "fleeing from the Lord." You can try, but you won't be very successful. He's everywhere. God's plans are much greater than our plans, and Jonah's sure didn't work out.

"Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up" (Jonah 1:4). The sailors each cried out to their own god and questioned each other, who could have brought this on? They soon turned to Jonah, who had told them he was fleeing from the Lord. The storm was only getting worse, so Jonah said, "'Pick me up and throw me into the sea and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you'" (Jonah 1:12). The sailors knew Jonah would surely die, so they tried to row back to land, but to no avail. They threw Jonah off and prayed that the Lord might spare him. "But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and nights" (Jonah 1:17).

Wait, what??

Yep. Giant fish.

Now are you rethinking avoiding God?

So Jonah is in the belly of the fish for three days and nights, and it doesn't take long for him to get down on his knees, "'In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and You listened to my cry'" (Jonah 2:2). Jonah prays to God and asks for forgiveness. At the end of the three days, God has Jonah released onto dry land, safe and sound (and a little scared). Jonah hurries off to Nineveh.

Now we know that it's probably a good idea to just listen in the first place, but despite Jonah going to Nineveh, his heart was not there.

Remember how God said Nineveh was a wicked city? Jonah goes there and proclaims the message, and the people turn from their evil ways. Success! But Jonah's not too happy.

God had compassion on the people of Nineveh and spared them. Then Jonah gets really mad and asks why in the world he had to come all the way to Nineveh if God was so compassionate and there wasn't much to do and...

Drama.

Jonah is annoyed that God would forgive such a sinful and hard-hearted people, but God sends Jonah to Ninevah not just for the people there, but also for Jonah's own good. Jonah too learned that God's grace is much bigger than we can fathom. God welcomed His children in Ninevah back home and He forgave Jonah for his own disobedience.

Anyway, God and Jonah work it out, Nineveh is healed, and we all learn a lesson.

But trust me, I know that following God is easier said than done.

Much easier.

In July 2016, me and my family said goodbye to our home, our friends, our church, and followed God 1,000 miles all the way from Ohio to Texas. Never did I think I would end up in Texas, but here I am.

My Dad is a Pastor and he felt the Lord's calling. And when the Lord calls, you gotta go. So we left our home of eight years (the longest I've lived in one place-- my parent's are pretty good about following the calling) and tearfully said goodbye to the life we had built. Moving also meant I would have to leave the safe and perfect bubble of homeschooling and venture into public school. Public school was my Nineveh (talk about drama, I know). But I was really scarred and did not want to go. I'd been homeschooled all my life with two years at a small Christian private school, but public school was a whole new world.

Plus, Texas is just too hot. I was born and raised in the north (as in Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio...) and was not about to deal with Texas temperatures, especially during Cross Country season. But I did. We all did. I ran in the heat, I went to public school, I made new friends, I went to my new Church, and you know what? I love it here.

Now it's been two years since the move and I don't doubt God one bit. In my life, following God meant relocating a family of eight to small-town Texas. For you, it might mean letting go of a grudge, or going on a mission trip, or opening your heart to the Spirit. Whatever it is, let me tell you: the first step is the hardest, after that, it's all faith.

** que Carrie Underwood's Jesus, Take the Wheel

As we said at VBS this year, Let go and let God!

Here's my challenge to you: open your ears to hear God's calling and your heart to accept it.

...and watch out for whales along the way.

-Sophia