Flight, Fears & Feelings
3 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
Have you ever tried to ‘flee from God’? No, probably not physically - although maybe you tried.
But maybe think of it this way. Have you felt/thought God was telling you to do something and you deliberately ignored it. You tried to make it go away?
I reckon we have all tried to flee from the Lord in some shape or form. Maybe the Spirit is bringing a live issue to mind right now.
Why do we do it? Well - don’t want to spoil our Jonah series too much. But let’s consider two reasons why we might not do what we should.
We know what listening to God will cost us. I think about times when I could have told someone about Jesus and haven’t. I’m scared about what they might think or say. Scared about how they might treat me.
You can apply fear to other decisions. Why we aren’t more generous for instance. We are afraid we won’t be financially secure or maybe that we won’t be able to do the other things we want to.
Are you fleeing from God because of fear?
Or maybe it’s not fear. It’s apathy.
Maybe you aren’t fleeing from God - but you also aren’t listening to Him. Because you just don’t care enough. I know I should talk to my friend about Jesus but I just don’t care. I’ve been there.
Whatever our reasons. Reading Jonah is a great opportunity to wrestle with what God is saying. What is He saying to you and why is it worth listening to Him?
Why don’t we need to be fearful and why should we care deeply about what God wants? There’s some questions to reflect on today.
For Today:
Pray:
Praise the Father that He speaks to us today through His Word. Give thanks for Jesus who did not give in to fear or apathy. Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others wrestle with your fears and feelings and listen to Him.
Jonah 1:3
Have you ever tried to ‘flee from God’? No, probably not physically - although maybe you tried.
But maybe think of it this way. Have you felt/thought God was telling you to do something and you deliberately ignored it. You tried to make it go away?
I reckon we have all tried to flee from the Lord in some shape or form. Maybe the Spirit is bringing a live issue to mind right now.
Why do we do it? Well - don’t want to spoil our Jonah series too much. But let’s consider two reasons why we might not do what we should.
We know what listening to God will cost us. I think about times when I could have told someone about Jesus and haven’t. I’m scared about what they might think or say. Scared about how they might treat me.
You can apply fear to other decisions. Why we aren’t more generous for instance. We are afraid we won’t be financially secure or maybe that we won’t be able to do the other things we want to.
Are you fleeing from God because of fear?
Or maybe it’s not fear. It’s apathy.
Maybe you aren’t fleeing from God - but you also aren’t listening to Him. Because you just don’t care enough. I know I should talk to my friend about Jesus but I just don’t care. I’ve been there.
Whatever our reasons. Reading Jonah is a great opportunity to wrestle with what God is saying. What is He saying to you and why is it worth listening to Him?
Why don’t we need to be fearful and why should we care deeply about what God wants? There’s some questions to reflect on today.
For Today:
- What is the Spirit saying to you today that you don’t want to hear?
- What are you afraid of or apathetic about that maybe you shouldn’t be?
- Pray that God would help you flow with Him rather than flee from Him.
Pray:
Praise the Father that He speaks to us today through His Word. Give thanks for Jesus who did not give in to fear or apathy. Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others wrestle with your fears and feelings and listen to Him.
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