His Word, My Fish

"Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it: for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord." Jonah 1:1-3

God sent Jonah to Nineveh. It was that simple. He did not ask Jonah's permission to see if it was okay. He did not say to Jonah, "if you wouldn't mind, could you go to Nineveh?" It was simple, clear cut command, "Arise, go to Nineveh." Jonah knew it was a command but he must have thought if he could run away from the presence of the Lord, then he wouldn't have to go. But what he didn't realize was that he WAS going to Nineveh. He could just surrender to God's will and go or he could take the 'scenic route' of a mighty temptest on the sea, being thrown overboard, then being swallowed by a great fish to spend 3 days and vomited back up. After Jonah's trial at sea God once again told Jonah to go to Nineveh. "And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah a second time saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh..." Jonah 3:1-2a This time Jonah followed the Word of the Lord and just went.

How many times has God told us to come up higher? How many times has God called us to a deeper, more meaningful relationship with him? How many times has He called us to minister to the hurting, the lost, the broken? How many times has he said, "Arise and go?" But we don't really want to go. We do not really want to put forth the effort of going deeper. We don't really like the thought of having to devote so much time and energy into a ministry, especially when we are doing good just the way we are. But God didn't ask us. God didn't get our permission. He said, "Come up higher and eat the meat of the word" and that is exactly what he meant. It is our choice though. We can simply surrender to his will or we can take the scenic route. As with Jonah, the scenic route is full of hurt, loss and despair.

Surrender or the Fish, what will your choice be?