Now
the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise,
go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their
wickedness has come up before Me."
What a great way start the day! Could you imagine? Just waking up and
having the word of God come to you. I’m not talking about a general
sensation that God is there, or some warm feeling of comfort or love
(nothing wrong with those). But I’m talking about an undeniable,
unmistakable word from God, command form verbs from the Creator of the
Universe, ARISE! GO! CRY OUT! This is what Jonah woke up to one
morning, the word of God, clear and specific. God told him where to go
and what to do. God even included why. I am convinced that as
Christians we have all been there, we have all heard clearly and
specifically God tell us to go somewhere and do something. I am also
convinced that as Christians there are some of us today that are
longing for the word of the Lord to come to us again. Maybe it’s been a
while since you have heard a command so clearly. You might even be
praying and asking for direction, only to be left mystified by the
silence. You might even seek the help of friends, “please pray for me,
I’m having trouble hearing God’s voice clearly”. Well what we can learn
from Jonah’s story is that once the word of the Lord comes to us, it
will also depart from us if we don’t obey. Jonah disobeyed the word
that had come to him so clearly, then He didn’t hear the word of the
Lord again until the fish spit him out on the beach and he was headed
in the right direction again. God didn’t talk to Jonah anymore, because
He knew Jonah wasn't listening. He had to use a storm and a fish, even
some non-believers! My encouragement to you is that if you are having
trouble hearing the voice of the Lord, you need to retrace your steps.
You need to go back as far as it takes, to get to that spot, the last
time the word was with you, the last time God spoke to you clearly and
specifically and you knew that it was God. Then you ask yourself, “Did
I do what God told me to do?” “Did I follow through?” If the answer is
“No”, it’s time jump ship, you’re headed to Tarshish and God wants you
in Nineveh. So if you are waiting for God to answer you, there might be
a chance that God is waiting for you to obey the last thing He told you
to do.
|
