Jonah 1:1-3 (KJV) Says, "Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord."
In the above scripture God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh to warn the people that God is displeased with them because of their disobedience to Him. Jonah ignores God's instruction, and sets sail for Tarshish instead. For those who aren't familiar with the story, after Jonah boards the ship a great storm comes up, and the sea becomes extremely rough. Jonah knows that the storm is from God because he opted to run from Him. Jonah advises the other men on the ship that they must throw him overboard in order to calm the storm because it is him that God is after. They throw him overboard, the sea calms, and Jonah is swallowed by a whale that God had prepared for that purpose. Jonah ends up agreeing to do as God instructed him to do, the whale spits him out, and keeping his word he heads to Nineveh.
God was talking to Jonah, and in lieu of listening to Him and following his instruction, Jonah opts to run. Have you ever ran from God? Do you avoid talking about God? Are you one of those people who goes to Church only on special occasions because you want to avoid the feeling that God is trying to tell you something? When you do go because you have a relative singing a solo, a friend in the Christmas play, or you're going to see someone baptized, do you begin feeling uncomfortable, out of place, and even a little nervous as soon as you enter the building? Does relief wash over you when you finally reach a pew and sit down? Does the preacher come out seconds later, begin his sermon, and aim it directly at you? Does he look straight at you the whole time he's delivering it? Does that happen every time you're in attendance? If they have an alter call at the end of the service that makes you a bit emotional instead of heading for the alter do you head out the front door? If this describes you then you may want to consider the possibility that you are running like Jonah.
Believers and non-believers alike can experience the feelings I've described in the above paragraph, and the truth is when we do we are under conviction from God. If you experience them and you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you may be under conviction to do so. If you have been saved, but you haven't been living in obedience to God, then you may be experiencing these feelings because God is trying to tug at your heart strings, and get you back on the right path. Let's face it, the preacher doesn't know when you are coming to Church, or what you've been doing in order to prepare a sermon specifically for you. God may have put the sermon on his heart for your benefit, but the preacher isn't picking on you. The preacher is not looking straight at you while delivering the sermon, it just seems that way. I can tell you this because I've experienced all of these feelings personally. There was a time when I had strayed from my walk with the Lord, and He put me under conviction, and I remained under conviction until I stopped running. One of the things we can learn from the story of Jonah is that you cannot run from God. Looking back I don't know why I ever tried to. I was running from the greatest life possible, and that is the one God has planned for me. Accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and surrendering my life to him is the greatest decision I have ever made. If you've been saved, but have strayed from God, then I urge you to go to him in prayer, and get back on track. If you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as you Lord and Savior, but you have the desire to do so then I urge you to go to God in prayer, ask him to forgive you of all your sins, tell him you believe that Jesus was born, that He died on the cross for you sins, and that He rose again. Ask Him to come into your heart, and tell Him you want to make Him your personal Lord and Savior. Surrendering your Life to Christ will bring you a divine peace, joy, and contentment like you have never before known.
If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.
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