"The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai."
Hearing the voice of God has to be one of the most difficult subjects that I run into. I'm okay with explaining why evil exists. I'm okay with talking about predestination and limited atonement. I'm even okay talking about eschatology and end times stuff. BUT please don't make me talk about hearing God!
I loved what Dustyn Vanzant shared yesterday when he taught at Terra Nova about this passage. He reminded us that all of us are called through God's Word to
- Attend to the needs of others
- Forgive those who have wronged us
- Love everyone
- Leave the status quo
Everyone of us, whether you hear God speaking in an audible voice or not, have experienced this calling. I know I catch myself wishing to hear God speak about specifics when I am not even following Him regarding the general stuff. When it comes to even these basics, I find myself acting just like Jonah...
"But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish."
For me, Tarshish might be falling back into doing church work! Often times it is easier to do something at church than it is to truly love the unlovable or forgive someone or meet some one's needs.
As I read today, I was forced to reflect on 2 central questions:
- What is God calling me to do?
- Where is my Tarshish?
I can't answer either one of these for you, but I can tell you that my Tarshish often looks a lot like a TV or busy work or lunch meetings. Sometimes it looks like people. People whose friendship would make me look good. People who I will sacrifice other things to become popular with even though they are not within God's calling on my life.
Running away from God doesn't necessarily mean giving up on Jesus, it might just mean not listening. It might just mean looking the other way.
Our relationship with God is not based on how well you follow rules. It is based on how open your heart is to God's. How open are you today?
Under the Mercy,
Jason
1 comment:
jason, since my laundry is in the dryer i really cant go to bed yet, so i read jonah...i will probably read it again tomorrow because i didnt quite understand why he was pouting that all the people had changed...and then to be ungrateful for the vine that God provided while he was pouting. he seemed so selfish and really didnt seem to convey what God is really about. why did God have such a pessimistic, unhappy person chosen as his prophet? at the end of the book, he didnt even truly change into a God loving man...
i watched the movie CRASH this weekend and i cried and this book made me want to cry too because so many people dont understand how important it is to work together and really love life and what we do have.
ps. congrats on your 100th blog. any imput you could give me for my second read through of this book would be appreciated..just shoot me an email....thanks jason for helping me through my journey. allie
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