Why We Run from God

The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”  But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. - Jonah 1:1-3

Tarnish was in the exact opposite direction than Ninevah. Tarshish was across a sea, while Ninevah was across a desert. Tarshish was the capitol of Jonah’s enemies and Tarshish was, well, Tarshish - it was a long ways a way, a small and mysterious place, and who could know who it belonged to?

Jonah ran away from God. Maybe he didn’t like deserts. Maybe he didn’t like big cities. Maybe he didn’t like walking hundreds of miles. And just maybe he didn’t want to hang out with his enemies. There could have been a dozen reasons Jonah went in the opposite direction - and we’ll look at a few of them in the coming weeks. But the real question for today is:

Why do you run away from God?

Think back over your life. What were the big moments when you ran away - and why was that? Think about the little ways you ran away from God yesterday - and why was that?

Talk to God honestly about why you pull back, why you choose a path that you know is not the right one, why you hide from God - or whatever else came up in your reflections. If we can’t figure out why we run from God, it’s going to be hard to figure out how to turn towards God.