Sunday we began a study of one of those little, sometimes forgotten books in the Old Testament  – Jonah.  In it’s four short chapters, it holds a wealth of insight for people who may be struggling to come to terms with a “calling” or struggling to understand why someone like us would give up everything we have for the good of others.  So here is part one of that “discussion.” Please make this a discussion not a monologue.  Leave your comments (love or hate) at the bottom.

GRACE IN GOING

God is not messing around here.  Jonah 1:2 is pretty clear.  No flowery language, no “how ’bout this weather.” God said go. Jonah wastes no time in his response. No. So what’s happening here? Fear? Doubt? Selfishness? Sure. They all play a part, but at the core of Jonah’s resistance is his disdain for the Assyrians. He didn’t want to obey because he knew God could spare the Ninevites.  Obedience could mean redemption for the pagans who are Israel’s arch enemy!  I don’t think so.

So Jonah goes the opposite direction and heads toward a beautiful paradise on the Iberian Peninsula called Tarshish.  This lush, tropical oasis, where God’s creative power and glory is on display, is where Jonah tries to escape.  Anyone else see the irony?  A modern equivalent would be like God calling you to go to Washington, D.C. in January 2010 (snow and LOTS of it) to tell the corrupt political fat cats to cleanup their act or receive God’s wrath.  You instead buy a one-way ticket to Hawaii.  Disobey.

Jonah’s task was not easy.  Nineveh was huge, foreign, unfriendly, etc.  This task was not glamorous or popular. This would not have made any sense to his friends or family, but God said go.

It’s in this moment that we learn more about who God is. GOD IS SOVEREIGN. We see this in Jonah 1:4, Jonah 1:17, Jonah 2:10 and Jonah3:3.  God is going to accomplish His good pleasing and perfect will with or without us.  Shocker, huh?  It’s His grace that gives us the opportunity to get in on the party, the celebration, the lasting joy of seeing lives changed… even if they’re our arch rivals.  The grace of going when God calls us to go is our opportunity to trust that God is in control.  We’ll tie in that obedience a little tighter in a future Jonah post.

And here comes the conviction… what is your Tarshish?  Where has God clearly spoken and your response was , “No. I don’t think so.”  What is the paradise where you are trying to escape from God.  At one point in my life, work was my Tarshish.  Recently for us it was an ongoing process of “Yeah, but…” statements.  Germany? Yeah, but what about our house?  our families?  our income?  And God said, “Jonathan and Valerie, do you truly trust that I am sovereign? Do you truly believe that my grace is sufficient?” We have answered with everything that we have… yes.  Now we see His grace in going and being obedient to His call.

Grace and peace,

Jonathan

The next post we’ll learn about grace in contrast and another one of God’s attributes that gives us a glimpse into His heart.  Thanks for leaving your comments or corrections below.

I am borrowing some of these perspectives from a Feb. 21 sermon by Shane Hipps, the new teaching pastor at Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, MI.  Here is a link to his 30 minute teaching on Jonah.