Following God’s will is a wonderful thing. That is, when God leads us the same direction we’re already going. The hard part comes when the Lord changes our course.
When God leads in a direction that seems exactly the opposite of the way He should lead, we’ll get logical in a hurry.
For example, in an attempt to discredit Jesus, the Pharisees claimed, “no prophet arises out of Galilee” (John 7:52). Oh really? The prophet Jonah came from Gath-hepher, located right beside Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth!
It’s easy to forget about this minor prophet who ran from God. It’s easy because we often do the same.
Here’s how to avoid that.
Jonah had no desire for God to forgive the pagan Nineveh. So when the Lord told him to preach in Assyria’s future capital, he took a ship from Joppa bound for Tarshish—the opposite direction of Nineveh!
In the furious squall that followed, Jonah found himself in the belly of a great fish, confessing, “Salvation is from the LORD” (Jon. 2:9). (Of course, Jonah meant his salvation, not Nineveh’s.)
The fish hurled Jonah onto dry land, back to the task he had run from.
As Jonah later sulked in the sun, watching what would happen to the city, the Lord provided a plant for shade. For the first time in the book, Jonah smiled. But then God sent a worm to eat the plant.
When the heat hit Jonah’s head, he became faint and begged God to take his life.
In His grace, God appointed the fish, the plant, the worm, and the wind—all to get Jonah to change.
Often, our blessings turn into entitlements and we become more concerned with trifles such as plants than with people made in God’s image. Our grumblings only betray that we’re running in a direction opposite from God.
God doesn’t bless us just to make us happy; He blesses us to make us a blessing. —Warren Wiersbe
When we think about it, Jesus didn’t cling to comforts when it came time to obey the Father. The difficulty of submitting to God is easier than the difficulty of running from Him.
The difficulty of submitting to God is easier than the difficulty of running from Him.
When God’s will makes us uncomfortable today, let’s use that incentive to choose the right direction.
Tell me what you think: Has God ever gotten your attention by removing something? To leave a comment, just click here.
This post is adapted from Wayne’s book, Going Places with God: A Devotional Journey Through the Lands of the Bible.
After going places with God, you’ll never be the same.