Running TO Rather Than FROM God
Jonah is an interesting book. One might read it and think that it is about Jonah. But a deeper reading would reveal that it is all about God. As we know, Jonah chose to run FROM God’s call to preach repentance to the non-Jewish people of Nineveh. He got on a boat and sailed in the exact opposite direction of the city of Nineveh. As he was on the boat, God called up a great storm that would ultimately sink the ship. But Jonah didn’t repent or even pray to God while on the boat.
Interestingly enough, we see that the men on the boat ended up praying to God (they knew Jonah was running from the God of Israel because he told them). And they not only prayed to God, but they also eventually recognized God’s power and worshipped Him. They then threw Jonah overboard on his own recommendation. Jonah began to sink, and God called for a great fish to come and swallow him up. It was here, in the belly of a fish, that Jonah finally turned toward God. It was only when Jonah was caught in a situation from which he couldn't escape that he turned back to the One who never stopped chasing him. Jonah realized it was time to run TO God and not away FROM Him. So, the focus of this post is the same as Jonah’s when he was swallowed and consumed by a fish. We focus on PRAYER: our way to RUN TO GOD.
Take a moment and open your Bible and read Jonah 1:17-2:10…
There are 3 important elements of Jonah’s prayer that we discover here, and they are ALL ABOUT GOD!
1) God is Always Near and Always Hears (2:2-4)
Jonah found himself thrown overboard by the hand of God. He was consumed first by the waves in the storm and then by a great fish. Both were sent by the hand of God. At that moment, Jonah knew the depth of his disobedience to God. The only thing left to do was what he hadn’t done all along: TALK TO GOD! His prayer is a compilation of bits of Scripture (namely, Psalms) that he had known all his life. And in his moment of deep distress, he called to mind those parts of Scripture that spoke his heart and helped him turn back to God. Jonah’s prayer helps us realize that God is a God who is always near and who always hears.
In Psalm 139:7-12 the psalmist asks where he could go that God would not be. Jonah (whom I call the Prodigal Prophet) tested the limits of the Psalmist’s parameters, but he ended up with the same conclusion: You can’t escape God! Even in the belly of a great fish, in the depths of the sea, God is there.
Jonah prayed to God on the very path of his rebellion. The interesting thing I find in this prayer is that Jonah never said he was sorry for his disobedience to God. He never said he was sorry. So, one might conclude that he never did the one thing he was called to preach to the Ninevites: REPENTANCE.
But that would be the wrong assumption. While he might have been struggling with a hard heart and a poor attitude, he did cry out to God. He may not have spoken the words “I’m sorry” to God, but His posture did. He turned to God and recognized that He (GOD) had thrown him into his current circumstances, and ONLY GOD could save him. Maybe, just maybe, God doesn’t need our “sorry” to grant us His grace. Maybe, just maybe, He can do great things with our posture turned toward Him rather than seeing our backs. Know this: we can say “sorry” to God all we want, but our hearts may still be turned away from Him. God sees the posture of our hearts before He hears the words from our mouths.
2) God Restores (2:5-8)
As Jonah began to sink deeper into the sea, his spiritual eyes reopened. Notice the description that is given to us of Jonah’s suffering and the prayer he prayed in the midst of this suffering.
“The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.” (2:5-6)
I have to imagine that Jonah felt the suffocating waters engulfing him, and he sensed that death was near. He was sure he was sinking to the very gates of death. I think if Jonah had a song to choose about his experience, it would have been: “I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore. Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more, But the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry, From the waters lifted me, now safe am I!”
Jonah’s prayer teaches us that God can restore us from the failures of our lives.
3) God Gives Hope (2:8ff.)
Yet, the overwhelming message of Jonah 2 is that God is a God of hope.
When all seems lost, God is still a God of hope. No matter where we are, or how far we think we have sunk, God is there waiting to restore us.
The message of Jonah’s salvation points to a greater salvation: JESUS. Jesus, in Matthew 12:40, told us that He would be in the belly of the earth for three days and three nights. And from the belly of the tomb, Jesus would rise to bring us all life.
Let me tell you: that is where your hope can be found today! The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a greater miracle than Jonah’s! With Jonah’s miracle, one man was saved. With Jesus’ miracle, all humanity is saved. That is the hope that God brings!
Hope brings change. We see that change in Jonah’s heart through his prayer. Jonah expressed appreciation for his salvation, and he promised to pay what he had vowed: “But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!” (v. 9). Running from God’s call brought Jonah to the horrifying situation in which he found himself. In the jaws of death, the prophet finally saw where his sinful pride and self-will had landed him. And he cried out to God in repentance. God resurrected Jonah by vomiting him out of the fish (Yuck but YAY!). Jonah became fully aware at that moment that SALVATION BELONGS TO THE LORD! There was nothing he had done or could do to earn it.
The crazy thing is that he still didn’t fully get it. He experienced his own peril and received grace and salvation from God, but he still didn’t want it for others. I guess God is not done with us yet, even after He saves us. There’s still some work to do on us. We are all works in progress. But don’t keep running FROM God. Instead, run TO God in prayer and draw near to Him. Let God hear you, restore you, and bring you hope. Call out to God and run TO Him. He is waiting to receive you with open arms!
