Monday November 13, 2017

 

For reasons that at times I can’t understand all of us have run from God at one time or another, and many people are still running from Him. For some it’s in the totality of their lives, those are the people who say they’re not ready to give their lives to Jesus. For others it’s in a specific area of their lives. It may be in a relationship, at work, maybe it’s a calling from God into ministry but you’re bent on doing the opposite. What we discover in the Bible is that when a person chooses to run from God they develop a dangerous pattern.

 

Jonah 1: 1-4 NIV

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”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. Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

 

God called Jonah to go and preach to the people of the city of Nineveh and for some reason Jonah decided to flee from God. Instead of going to Nineveh he decided to purchase a ticket on a ship that was actually going in the opposite direction of where God had sent him. When people decide to run from God they develop a pattern and one of the first steps in that pattern is to:

 

Run to the most dangerous places.
If you’re going to physically run from God, how smart is to get on a ship? This is precisely what the people who are running from God do; they run right into very dangerous places.

 

It’s the same for the young person who says; “I’m not ready to follow Jesus, I want to have fun and I’m in a relationship with someone right now.” How smart of an idea is it to run from God straight into a relationship? Nothing bad can happen there!

 

It’s the same for the single adult who God is calling but instead of following Jesus, they run away from Him straight into a marriage. Again, nothing happens in marriages!

 

It’s the same for the person that God is calling into a ministry, but they choose to run into a business venture. I’m sure that there are no dangers to worry about in a business venture!
It’s always going to be the same no matter what the circumstances are, every time God asks you to move in one direction and you choose to go in another you’re going to end up in very dangerous places and circumstances. Do you know why those who are running from God end up in dangerous places?

 

When you run from God you’re actually running away from the source of all wisdom.
And it doesn’t matter how smart and slick you are. It doesn’t matter how much you’ve planned and prepared to make your move. Eventually those who run from God end up making some very bad choices, because they’re running from the source of all wisdom.

 

When you run from God you run from the source of all truth.
Jesus said, “I am the truth.” When you run from the source of all truth it becomes easy to accept the lies of this world, it’s easy to believe that things that never work will somehow work for you. It’s easy to think that you will be the exception to the rule. It’s just that when you reject the truth by default you accept a lie.

 

When you run from God you’re not only running from the source of all wisdom and truth you’re also running from the source of unconditional love, purpose, life and everything that is good.

 

There’s good and bad news for those who run from God. The good news is that you can run but you cannot hide. God did not go running after Jonah. He was waiting for Him. The bad news is that God will be waiting for you with a violent storm. God is not going to run after you. He will be waiting for you, and He will use the routine everyday things in life to cause a storm so big that you will have to look His way. But there is a simple way to avoid the storms of life, don’t run.

 

It’s simple, when you choose to run from God you’re going to end up in some very dangerous places and circumstances.

 

Father, I cannot run or hide from you. Why would I want to? In your loving arms I am safe. I don’t want to repeat my past mistakes. I want to run to you … my source of unconditional love, purpose, life and everything that is good.