You can't run from God
But Jonah tried to run 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

Well most of us know the story of Jonah and the big fish that swallowed him. I do not know of any fish bigger tha a whale, but the bible say big fish, so I am going to use the word fish.
But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. Jonah 1:17
Jonah was a guy who just wanted to do his own thing, he did not care about God's order for him to go to Nineveh to tell the people that the Lord can no longer overlook the wicked things they have done.
Also Jonah was scared for his life , Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. The assyrians had a strong army that was conquering many of the near by small countries.
Jonah knew the Ninevehs worshipped idols. They did not know about the true God, and each year they became more wicked. Jonah decided instead to go down to the Great Sea and take a ship going in the opposite direction. He wanted to get far enough away from God that he will not remind him to go to preach to the wicked ninevites.
Jonah found a ship bound for Tarshish, a city faar from Nineveh. he went down into the ship and fell asleep, thinking that he out smarted God by running from him.
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

Now things start to change for Jonah, he don't know God knew where he was at all the time and was just watching him a long time ago. You can't run from God. .When God has plans for you, he will make sure you go through something to get the full picture from your trialsof what you have to do. We all are here for a purpose, not to enjoy life in pleasure, but to learn from all situations we go through to help ourselves and others.
Once they got under way, God sent a storm. Violent waves and wind tore at the boat. All of the sailors were afraid. Now, these weren’t just a group of fishermen that got together for a days outing. These were guys who knew the ocean. They were professional sailors who had undoubtedly been through rough seas before.

But these weren’t any rough seas. These were bad. So bad that they figured someone on board had upset one of the gods. So they cast lots to see who the guilty party was and sure enough, they decided the guilty party was none other than Jonah.
When they confronted him, he confessed and when they asked what they should do, Jonah suggested that if they threw him overboard the storm would go away. At first, they tried to row back to land, but in the end, the storm, growing ever fiercer, made them change their minds and over went Jonah.

We’re all very familiar with what happened next. Jonah was swallowed by a great fish and spent three days in the belly of that fish.

Now when .Jonah gotten swaallowed up by the fish, he had a change of heart, now he wants to do what God wanted him to do.So he prayed so hard to God and this is what he said:
"In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
From the depths of the grave I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.

You hurled me into the deep,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
I said, 'I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.'
The engulfing waters threatened me, [b]
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you brought my life up from the pit,
O LORD my God.
"When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
"Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the LORD." Jonah 2:1-10
Now God heard his prayer, and And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. So now Jonah was all in his right mind, that he can't esacape God , so he better head to Nineveh to preach the word of God.Now Jonah had to go through all that trouble to change his mind on what God wanted him to do., well I hate to say I catch myself like that sometimes when I get the impression that God wants me to help some people , but I say to myself , why should I help those that hurt others. They don't even like me. Well God wants us to love even our enemies.
"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Matthew 5:43-44
The story of Jonah offers many lessons for us. Jonah is sent to a people he’d rather avoid in a country he’d rather destroy to send a message of repentance. In spite of his attempt to run from the presence of God, he gets there and sends the message. Miraculously the whole city repents, animals and humans alike. As Jonah takes his ringside seat for the destruction of his political enemies, God provides a plant that gives Jonah shade. Jonah becomes attached to the plant, knowing that God
gives him, an Israelite, good things (that’s the way it works, you know). But then when the plant withers, Jonah gets angry.

Maybe the biggest lesson we can learn comes from the last verses of the book of Jonah. God reminds Jonah that he’s angry about losing the plant, which he didn’t make, he didn’t plant, he didn’t nourish. Can’t God show mercy to a whole city, with a huge number of people and animals, who are certainly worth more than Jonah’s little plant? And maybe we can remember that lesson as well. God’s mercy extends way beyond our boundaries. God’s love permeates farther than we would ever ask .
So you can't run from God when he has a plan for you and others.All of us are here to help others like we are helping ourselves by following God's law by the Word.
Prayer: father, thank you for choosing me to be a disciple of Jesus Christ who will bear much fruit. it is a privilege to be your ambassador . whereever I go I will share the good news about jesus Christ, because I know you want all to come to a saving knowledge of your Son. You have called me to be your witness, Lord. I will not be ashamed of your gospel because I know it is your power unto salvation to all who will believe. In Jesus name I pray , Amen.

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