One of the most foolish things we can do in life is to run from God. We’ve all done it to one degree or another. Some people are outright running from God, while others are running from God in a specific area or stage of their life. I say it’s foolish to do so because for the most part we know that God is right. But there is something in us that causes us to believe that we can outrun Him. How foolish! This is nothing new, the Bible is full of men and women who at one time or another thought they could outrun God. And through their experiences we learn that a pattern develops in their life. Maybe as we see this pattern it would encourage us not to be foolish and think that we can outrun God.

Jonah 1: 5-7 NIV

5. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. 6The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.” 7Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

Jonah was a man who God had called to preach in a city called Nineveh, but Jonah did not like that idea and decided to run from God. So he purchased a ticket on a merchant ship going in the opposite direction of the city that God had sent him to. The Bible says that God caused a violent storm that threatened to tear apart the ship that Jonah was in. The storm became so violent that in order to save their lives the sailors had to throw all the cargo off of the ship.

When we choose to run from God:

We tend to run to dangerous places and situations.
How foolish is to try to outrun God on a ship? Doesn’t sound very smart.

Things don’t go well for us.
You can run but you cannot hide. God was waiting for Jonah with a violent storm.

When you run from God the people closest to you also pay the price.
Even though we do not intend to do so when we run from God we end up hurting the people around us and we end up hurting the people closest to us. Because of Jonah’s foolish decision to run from God, a group of sailors were paying the price, because of Jonah these men who had nothing to do with his foolishness found themselves in the middle of a violent storm, so violent that it caused them to have to throw their cargo into the sea.

When you choose to run from God there will be collateral damage, you will end up hurting the people closest to you. If as a father you choose to run from God not only will things not go well for you, but because of your foolish decision they won’t go well for your family either. The same is true for mothers. If you’re a teenager and you choose to run from God, not only will you hurt yourself, you will also hurt your parents, your siblings and even your friends. If God has called you to ministry but you run by hiding behind your job, eventually things are not going to go well for you and the people that work with you will also pay the price.

I hope that as we look at the pattern that develops in the lives of those who are running from God, if you were thinking about running you would change your mind. And if you’re already on the run I hope you make the wise choice of turning back to God, the God who will be awaiting you with open arms.

It’s simple, when we run from God the people closest to us will also pay the price.

Heavenly Father, help me to be fully aware of the consequences that affect me and those around me when I make the foolish decision of running away from you. Deliver me from evil, that I may always run into your arms.