“But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.” – Jonah 1:3

You can’t run from God!!! Jonah was a prophet who didn’t like God’s assignment, so he tried to run away. God was sending Jonah to Israel’s greatest enemy to call them to repent of their sins and be saved. Refusing his assignment, Jonah tried to go as far in the opposite direction as he could. But you can’t outrun God. You can’t hide from God. And you certainly can’t hide from His calling. All you’ll manage to do is make yourself miserable. Jonah certainly did!

Much of Jonah’s story focuses on his misery for trying to resist God’s will. Because He ran from God’s presence, God put him in a multi-day timeout inside a big fish! Jonah had time to repent for his poor decision making, leading him to grudging obedience to the Lord. However, God is never pleased with grudging obedience.

After Ninevah’s widespread repentance, God gave Jonah some object lessons to try and help Jonah think more from God’s perspective than his own. God wanted to elevate Jonah’s thinking, moving it away from his nationalistic hatred of other peoples and toward God’s desire to see all nations saved from their sins. Unfortunately, Jonah was a tough nut to crack.

There are countless lessons in the short book of Jonah. Many are about Ninevah, and by reflection, Israel. However, some are for individual followers of God who simply need to learn to think more like God, care more about what God cares about, and stop running from God’s calling. As a follower of Jesus, how might you need to learn to think more like the Lord? What priorities of God should become far more important to you? Is there an aspect of God’s will that you are trying to run or hide from? #FollowJesus

“And Amaziah said to the man of God, ‘But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?’ The man of God answered, ‘The Lord is able to give you much more than this.'” – 2 Chronicles 25:9

Sometimes we can get pretty far down the wrong road before we realize it! However, it’s never too late to turn around and get back on the right road! King Amaziah was going to war. To strengthen his army (in his mind), he spent a fortune to hire an army of mercenaries. That was NOT God’s will.

God warned the king that He wasn’t with those troops. He was only with Amaziah and his army. Amaziah needed to fire his mercenaries in order to please God. Amaziah had made a terribly expensive mistake! To his credit, he didn’t charge forward with his mistake. He accepted that it was better to get off the ungodly path he was on than to protect his reputation by continuing forward with his original plan.

If/when you find yourself in Amaziah’s situation, what will you do? If you suddenly realize that you’ve put your time, treasure, energy, and reputation into something that isn’t God’s will, are you able to admit it and radically change course? Are you willing to forfeit your investment to get back into God’s will? Or do you find it difficult to admit mistakes, let go of time and treasure that’s already been spent, and change course? Reflect on these questions today, so you can more fully #FollowJesus every day.

“He said, ‘Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” – 2 Kings 6:16-17

One lesson the Bible teaches is that there is always a deeper spiritual reality that we’re seldom able to see. God is always on His throne, though we can’t see Him. Jesus is always at His side, though we can’t see Him. Angelic choirs, messengers, and armies are always active, though we usually can’t see them. A spiritual war (already won by Jesus) is raging, which we usually can’t see either.

Our thoughts and feelings are so driven by our five senses that we seldom give much thought to what the deeper spiritual reality of a situation may be. We can easily fall into despair when things don’t appear to be going well. And yet, we don’t know what God may be doing in that situation. We usually don’t consider what Jesus may be accomplishing in our lives through that difficult situation.

We tend to assess our chances of success based solely on earthly resources without considering what the resources of God could accomplish. Always remember that there is a deeper spiritual reality. You may not see it, but you can absolutely tap into it through prayer. When things are difficult, lean on the Lord in prayer. Ask Him to intervene in your situation, no matter how hopeless it may appear. And resolve to always #FollowJesus

“He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.” – 2 Kings 2:23-24

What a stunning reminder that God can always and abundantly take care of His people! Don’t be afraid of human opposition. Don’t worry about what people may think or say about you as you serve the Lord. Be willing to be made fun of for Jesus. Be confident that God has always got your back! God is always with His servants and He will honor you if you’re faithfully following Jesus. Even if nobody else honors you for it.

Of course, it’s also a really terrible idea to make fun of godly people (even the bald ones)! Simply #FollowJesus