“I will sacrifice to You with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is
from the Lord.” Jonah 2:9 HCSB

Have you ever been told to do something and chose not to do it? We are all guilty of
willful disobedience. I learned this very well when I taught 4-year-old children in a preschool.
When confronted with their disobedience, some children would run and hide; other times, they
immediately repented. But occasionally, I faced a very strong-willed child who would, in
defiance, look at me, perpetrate his crime, and then run in a different direction from where I
was standing. Discipline was necessary and immediate.

In the book of Jonah, we read about another individual who, much like the 4-year-olds I taught,
deliberately disobeyed God’s command. God had selected Jonah to deliver a message of
repentance to the city of Nineveh. Rather than obey what God instructed him to do, Jonah ran
in the opposite direction. The Ninevites were wicked evil people over 500 miles away from
where Jonah lived, so trying to run from the presence of the Lord, Jonah went in the opposite
direction, boarding a ship that was sailing away from Nineveh.

Jonah thought he’d hide away on a cargo ship, trying to out-maneuver God, but God sent a
violent storm to get his attention. Instead, the ship’s crew realized that Jonah was the cause of
their impending doom and threw him overboard to appease God’s judgment. In their reverent
fear of the God of the Hebrews, they made vows and sacrifices to God. Then, over the side of
the boat went Jonah.

God wasn’t finished with Jonah. Now, both Jonah and Nineveh needed to repent. God
miraculously provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and it was here that he experienced a
three-day stay in the belly of the fish. Jonah’s rebellion and God’s discipline brought Jonah to
the point of humble repentance. Jonah realized that God had graciously spared his life. First and
foremost, Jonah “called to the Lord in his distress.”

When we find ourselves in a place of distress, sometimes of our own making, we try to fix
things in our sufficiency; however, there are times when we have no place to turn but up. So
our immediate response should be to look up and call out to God as our redeemer and
deliverer. As he cries for help, Jonah acknowledges God’s discipline for his
disobedience and promise of deliverance in distress.

“Jonah couldn’t save himself, and nobody on earth could save him, but the Lord could do it, for
“salvation is of the Lord!” (Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary-Old Testament The
Prophets, p. 381). God is faithful and true, fulfilling His vows to His children. When God asks us
to do something, let us remember His promises and salvation, and follow Him in obedience,
wherever He asks us to go. AJW

Can you think of a time when you ran from God? How did it turn out?
What was the result if you repented and did what God called you to do?
How has it affected your walk with the Lord if you disobey Him?