I started reading in the book of Jonah this morning, from the Old Testament, a story that may be familiar to many people. I will summarize some of it and quote parts of it due to the length of the story in the Scriptures.

Jonah was a prophet of God. And God commanded him to go to Nineveh and to preach against it, because of its wickedness. Jonah, however, resisted the command of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and he got on a ship bound for Tarshish. But the Lord sent a great wind against it, which eventually led to Jonah being thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish which God appointed to swallow Jonah. And he spent 3 days and nights inside the fish.

Running Away

Jonah 2:7-10 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

While still inside the fish Jonah said:

“7As my life was fading away,
I remembered the LORD.
My prayer went up to You,
to Your holy temple.
8Those who cling to worthless idols
forsake His loving devotion.
9But I, with the voice of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to You.
I will fulfill what I have vowed.
Salvation is from the LORD!”
10And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Have you ever been there, not necessarily in the belly of a huge fish, but running from God’s will and purpose for your life, trying to escape what you did not want to have to do? I have! Not for a long while now, but I had a period of time in my life where things were really hard, and I mean hard, not the light and fluffy stuff, and to where I was overwhelmed by it all. It was beyond my ability to bear, and so I gave up, and I gave into my flesh, and I caved to the pressure of my surroundings, and I left God’s presence, too.

If that is where you are presently, don’t go there! Don’t let the enemy of your soul defeat you. It will never make anything better, only worse. Resist Satan, flee temptation, and draw near to God. Commit your life to the Lord and to His service no matter how hard it gets, and no matter who rejects you and mistreats you and misunderstands you. Let the Lord give you the strength to endure the trial you are going through, and trust Him to work it all out for your ultimate good. Then walk with God. Follow His leading.

A Second Chance

God, in His grace, gave Jonah a second chance to obey Him. Again he called him to go to Nineveh and to proclaim to the people the message that God gave to him. This time Jonah obeyed God. Jonah announced to the people, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!” And the Ninevites believed God. And they proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth. And word then reached the king of Nineveh, and he did the same as the people.

Jonah 3:7-10 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

7Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink. 8Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands. 9Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.” 10When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.

Amen! So, what can we learn from this? From my own experience I learned that running away from God never solves anything. It never makes matters better, but only worse. No good is accomplished at all by running away from the Lord just because our circumstances got too difficult or just because we did not want the responsibility and the most likely results that would take place in our lives if we did obey God. Obedience is always best. Will obedience produce more suffering? Yes! But the results will be worth it.

For me, when I finally said “no” to running away from my problems, and “yes” to God with a willingness to face them, then God was able to use me in ways I would never have imagined. He called me to a ministry that I would never have even thought of, to write down what I am learning from Him each day and to post these writings on the internet where a herald would “Run With It,” the name of what became my blogs. For the Lord then takes these writings where He wants them, and He uses them for His purposes.

So, if you are presently where Jonah was, running from God because you don’t want the responsibility of doing what God has for you to do, or because life just got too hard for you and so you decided that you would run away as a way to escape your problems, even though that never works, then I pray that today you will stop running, stop escaping, and give your lives totally to the Lord to do His will His way. Trust in His sovereignty over your life, and let Him use you for His glory to minister God’s love and grace to other people.

[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 9:23-26; John 4:31-38; John 10:27-30; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 10:14-15; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-14; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:9,21,24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Running From God
An Original Work / August 28, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Where is Jesus?

An Original Work / May 22, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Fishing, swimming, boating, sailing,
Driving, hiking, camping, trailing,
Bowling, golfing, TV watching,
Videos, movies and talking –
Where is Jesus found?

Friends and Facebook chat and email,
Internet, blogs, news sites, retail,
Magazines, books, sports and music,
Laptops, I-Pads, smart phones, texting –
Where is Jesus now?

Jobs, careers, and data bases,
Business, money, many faces,
Get ahead of everyone who’s
Competition; always running –
Where does Jesus fit?