By Dr. Tony Evans
Has God ever said something to you, or asked you to do something, that you didn’t like or didn’t want to do? You knew you heard him clearly, but you also knew that you weren’t really into his request, demand, or expectation. In fact, to you it seemed like God was making a request that revealed that he had lost his mind. Of course you would never come right out and say that, but the thought crossed your own.
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If this has ever happened to you, then take comfort in knowing that you are in good company. The greatest evangelist ever to walk this planet had a similar response. I say that he is the greatest evangelist because at no other time in the history of humankind has one man preached one sermon, and an entire city—from king to commoner to cow—responded and turned their lives around. I am talking about Jonah.
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God had told Jonah to go to the Ninevites and tell them that he was going to judge them if they didn’t straighten up. One thing to keep in mind about the Ninevites is that they were a very violent group of people. They would just as soon kill you and put your dead body on display then ask you what you had come to see them about. So it’s not entirely surprising that Jonah didn’t want to go to them.
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Not only was he scared of them, though. He was also scared that they might repent and then God, in his mercy, would forgive them. Jonah wanted to see them judged. Jonah didn’t want to give them the opportunity to turn from their wicked ways and receive forgiveness from the Lord. So Jonah set out in the opposite direction from where God had told him to go. Jonah thought he could somehow hide from God, the Creator of the universe.
But no location is too far out of the reach of God’s call on your life. God knew exactly where Jonah was and sent a tumultuous storm into the heart of the sea where he was sailing. This wreaked havoc on the boat and the sailors cried out for help, eventually tossing Jonah overboard in an attempt to save their own lives. Thus, Jonah wound up in the belly of a great fish that would eventually transport him right back to where God wanted him to go.
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Jonah got a second chance to obey God, and after his nightmare in the sea, he chose obedience.
If you, like Jonah, have strayed from the direction and path that God had once revealed to you, I encourage you to cry out to him today. Don’t wait until God has to maneuver your circumstances to get you where he wants you to go. Rather, call out to God wherever you are right now. He can hear you. He can reach you where you are. He longs to bring you back in line with his purpose and plan for you. Ask him to do this before he has to intervene in a more drastic way like he did with Jonah.
— Read other articles in this series by Dr. Tony Evans —
Reprinted from The Tony Evans Study Bible (2019) with permission of Holman Bibles. Tony Evans—author of numerous books—has faithfully proclaimed the gospel for more than 50 years. He serves as senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and is founder of The Urban Alternative.
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