Life on the ocean wave

But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD. Jonah 1.3

Sorry about the late appearance of this post. Like Jonah I made a dash for the sea and I am now aboard a vessel, sailing away...

Unlike Jonah, I am not escaping but confronting my obligation - to check up on our affairs in Lewis. I am not assuming any kind of moral superiority. Yet the fact is that Jonah was a reluctant prophet, while also being strikingly successful. Not that it brought him any satisfaction. Quite the reverse: he was horrified when his call for repentance among the Ninevites (whom he loathed) was embraced so convincingly that God relented on the judgment he had sent Jonah to declare.

The story of Jonah reveals many truths about us and God. We can run from God but we can never escape. God's capacity for mercy exceeds our meanness of spirit. God can achieve amazing things through our obedience, even when it has to be squeezed out of us. Imagine what can happen when we respond to his call enthusiastically!