Loving Difficult People in Difficult Places (Part 1 of 4)

Read Jonah 1

Lets be frank as we begin this expose of a little rebellious and self-preserving prophet named Jonah...

He's much more like you than you may be willing to concede. Additionally, what he faced may actually bear more relevance to today than originally meets the eye.

God's call will often be to love difficult people in difficult places (can I get an Amen?). This was Jonah's experience, and he failed... miserably, epically, and repetitively. There, that should do it, you should be of good courage now that you know no Bible character is off limits from the grips of sinful humanity.

Jonah was a prophet asked by the Lord to tell Ninevah that it must turn from its sin or be punished by God himself! Not exactly like waking a teenager at 8am during shelter-in-place with a list of family chores and their school assignments but both would appear to be fairly unwelcome tasks. By examining ourselves in Jonah's story we may find areas we lack trust in God, struggle with His decisions on who and how to love, or ultimately fail to lay our concerns at His feet.

Won't you journey (briefly) along with me as we look at Jonah, and ourselves?

WHERE'S JONAH GOING?

It was a brisk morning and the sun was already climbing in the sky as the port was bustling with excitement. The night before Jonah could hardly sleep a wink. God had clearly spoken to him and he knew he was obligated to obey; but worthless and horrible city of Nineveh hardly seemed worth his time or attention, they were wicked beyond redemption. Conclusively, Jonah stepped up to purchase his fare for a ship sailing to Tarshish, a place that would be 2,000 or more miles away from Nineveh. Perhaps God's presence which dwelt so powerfully in Israel and on King Jereboam II would not follow me here.

It's not long and God's disdain for sin matched by the desire for His children to obey meets with a terrible storm to get Jonah's attention. An omnipresent God (everywhere at once) leads to narrowing options for His children who want to run (see Psalm 139:7-12). "Crud, I knew I never should have told those guys when I boarded the ship I was running from God. Now they are trying to determine whose responsible..."

They angrily, but fearfully quip, "Are you kidding? You worship the god who made everything and didn't think to tell us?" In a moment of brave stupidity Jonah suggests the unthinkable, "Chuck me overboard and things will calm down because I caused all this (1:12)." Imagine the looks between the gruff and salty sailors. Then the accusations back and forth - "If we throw him in and things DO CALM DOWN, wouldn't that mean we are responsible for this man's blood? NO way! I ain't doing it!" 

They finally chuck him over, the sea calms, God appoints "a great fish to swallow up Jonah" and the chapter ends. All in a day's work he has: ignored the call of God, run from his duties, put other lives in peril, managed a partial confession (he told them he was running from the presence of God but not why), and found new lodging inside a very large fish for a 3 day weekend.

Some questions to examine ourselves during this pandemic and in the story of Jonah:

1. Jesus also had a call to love difficult people in difficult places. Matthew 23:36-56 outlines just how opposite Jesus and Jonah were. How did He respond? 
1. Is there a place, person or conversation that you KNOW you avoid? What might God, through his Spirit, be asking you to address today concerning it? 
2. Jesus example was to grieve (Matt. 26:36-38), be vulnerable with his friends and ask them for prayer (Matt. 26:38-41), and talked with His Father about all of it (Matt. 26:36-46). How about you? 
2. Jonah doesn't fully confess why he's fleeing the presence of God. Are you afraid of having something exposed? Times of sheltering-in-place have forced the hand of many of us to confront what has remained hidden. Remember God is patient (Romans 2:4) and honors humility and repentance (Psalm 103:8-11). 
1. Point to Ponder: Jonah, no doubt, considered himself more righteous than the Ninevites. Interesting how the "righteous" are constantly finding themselves upset with God's mercy...