“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go
to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has
come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah arose to flee to
Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going
to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to
Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.4 But the Lord sent out a
great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the
ship was about to be broken up. 5 Then the
mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo
that was in the ship into the sea, to
lighten the load.] But Jonah
had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast
asleep. 6 So the
captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call
on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
7 And they said to one another,
“Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and
the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him,
“Please tell us! For whose cause is this
trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is
your country? And of what people are you?” 9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of
heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men
were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men
knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.”
Friends,
is hard for some of us to believe that still today there’s people than aren’t aware
that from the presence of THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD, nobody can hide!!! I came across
one of those a few years back not in a remoted part of the world but here in
AMERICA!!! I was thrilled that GOD gave me a chance to present that woman with
the good news of THE SAVIOR of the world, JESUS! We both were shocked!!! It was
sad and exciting at the same time, but unforgettable for the most!!! But as you
read this chapter you will see how THE LORD showed Jonah then, and us today a
lesson about HIS OMNIPRESENCE.
Jonah
wasn’t too convinced that what GOD had said (go to preach to Nineveh) was what NEEDED
to be done. At the same time, Jonah was really
convinced that not wanting to go Nineveh, go Tarshish was the best thing. Have
you ever been in a situation alike before? You strongly feel GOD is telling you
to do something or to talk to someone about HIM, but your own fear and apprehension
moves you to avoid that place, person or thing!? Jonah, allowed HIS emotions to
RULE his life so, the “best thing” (sarcastically, because it wasn’t the smartest
choice either) he came up with, was to “run away” from his duty as GOD’s prophet.
Today’s
word is helping us to see that no matter where we go, THE LORD IS AWARE of it
because HE IS OMNIPRESENT, which is defined as the state of being widespread or
constantly encountered. In other words,
HE is all the time at every place, HE sees it all!!!
The
gospel of Matthew chapter 6, JESUS HIMSELF makes us aware of HIS omnipresence. In this case unrelated to Jonah’s, JESUS is explaining
about giving to the poor, and closes the statement confirming about THE LORD’s character:
“4b Then
your Father, who SEES what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Friends, THE
LORD SEES IT ALL!!! Try NOT to go against HIS will ANYMORE!!! When
GOD is asking us to do something, we MUST go and do it. Not only because we MUST BUT BECAUSE HE IS in
charge of the breath we take! A breath that has is being given to us to
do HIS will and for HIS glory. And when
we chose NOT to follow HIS plan, we’re basically telling HIM, “you do whatever
you want to with me, I’m doing my own thing”.
And since when, one of your own kids tell you that and in return you
give them a hundred-dollar bill to go buy their favorite goody for Christmas???
U-hum!!! Not happening, right?! Why, because as parents, we are in charge, and
they must UNDERSTAND and FOLLOW us; not the other way around! Well, guess what?
We ARE GOD’s children and THE FATHER in charge is GOD HIMSELF!!! And as with
our kids, HE CAN and WILL turn circumstances around to CONVINCE us of THE called
and duty in our lives.
Jonah,
KNEW he was disobeying GOD. So, he admitted to non-believers what he was
running from, but even them “unbelievers” (heretic, heathen, atheist,
agnostic, pagan, skeptic, cynic, doubter, scoffer) they knew running away from a
“god” was a bad thing, so, they were afraid!!! Their reaction taught Jonah a
lesson. They proceeded as Jonah led them
to, and at the end, they worshiped (verse 14)
the ALMIGHTY GOD
who Jonah was running from, for they realized that indeed was the TRUE GOD.
Jonah got the message: running away from GOD IS NOT the right WAY TO GO! Did YOU???
Today, if you
fail, ask HIM to forgive you, and ask HIM for HIS will and go after it. If you
fail, try it again! The same tomorrow, and the day after, until you fail no
more at that particular thing; then go to the next thing.
I MUST SAY,
when you try to succeed in whatever you do, put THE LORD FIRST! “TRUST IN THE
LORD with all your heart, and lean NOT on your own understanding, in ALL your
ways ACKOWLEDGE/SUBMIT to HIM, AND HE WILL MAKE your paths STRAIGHT!” (Prov. 3:5-6)
I pray THE LORD allow you to get HIS message this morning, discovering
HIM and HIS plan for your life. Also, I pray HE will give you and me, new opportunities
to share the gospel with the lost right where we’re at on a daily basis, and I pray
this in JESUS name and for HIS glory, AMEN!!!