Chasing a God You Don't Want to Catch by Darren Wilson

Author:Darren Wilson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2020-03-11T00:00:00+00:00

GET IN MY BELLY!

One of the most famous stories in the Bible about God asking someone to do something they don’t want to do is the story of Jonah. This story was a staple in my Sunday school years because it had everything you need to keep a kid’s attention. It also had a neat little lesson built in, namely, that you can never run from God. Again, definitely a true point to note, but to this kid’s mind that wasn’t something to be celebrated. It just made God into an unstoppable force who could haunt me whenever He wanted. But the story, as I read it now as a friend of God, is a little different than they taught me on felt boards and in vegetable cartoons.

Jonah was God’s prophet, which back in the day was a big deal. The Lord dealt with the prophets directly, so they were His main delegates to give people messages. One day God speaks to Jonah and tells him to book a trip to the great city of Nineveh because the people there have been super naughty. God wants Jonah to go warn the city that they must repent of their evil ways or else God is going to bring about their destruction.

As we learn later in the story, God’s showing mercy to enemies of Israel is beyond scandalous to Jonah, and he, through a misguided attempt to save God from Himself, books the first boat out that is going in the opposite direction of Nineveh. He wants no part of this plan of God’s to help his enemies, because Jonah is a true patriot of Israel. But God isn’t interested in Jonah’s patriotism; He’s interested in his obedience.

You probably know how the rest of the story goes, so I’ll keep it brief. Jonah hitches a ride on a boat in his effort to run away from God’s assignment, and God is like, Uh, not so fast. He sends a massive storm that threatens to sink the ship, and the men on board are understandably freaked out. They believe the storm is happening because someone on board has done something wrong, so they cast lots to see who the guilty one is. Of course it falls on Jonah. He explains that he’s running away from God and tells them the only way this can stop is if they hurl him overboard.

The men aren’t too keen on this idea because they’d be murdering someone, but the storm gets worse and worse until they’re at the point of desperation. Probably figuring they’re all going to die anyway, they grab Jonah and heave him overboard, and immediately the storm calms. This so shakes the pagan sailors that they offer a sacrifice to Yahweh and make vows to serve Him!

That’s when Jonah goes all Pinocchio and gets swallowed up by a massive fish. Because of Disney movies I had the mental image of Jonah hanging out in a cavernous belly surrounded by driftwood and seaweed. But the truth would have been much, much worse.

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