Turning

HOW many decisions have you made today? What to have for breakfast, for example, or what to wear – these are some of the decisions we face every day. Many are seemingly unimportant ones that have little consequence – although have you ever chosen the wrong pair of shoes to wear on a day out?

Yet we face some decisions that we know are very important. We weigh up the consequences and move forward with caution.

One Bible character who raises our awareness of decisions and their consequences is Jonah. The story of this reluctant prophet is often thought of as a children’s tale, but it has so much to challenge all of us.

‘Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher’ (2 Kings 14:25) was called by the Lord to ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it’ (Jonah 1:2 all quotations from New International Version). The Lord told Jonah that he was to do this because the wickedness of the city had come up before him.

Faced with this mission, Jonah made the decision to run ‘away from the Lord’ (1:3) and headed in the opposite direction – setting sail from Joppa to Tarshish.

Why did he do this? What was it that made Jonah decide he should not follow God, but instead go in the opposite direction? Was it fear – fear of going to this great, wicked city, fear of what the people of Nineveh might do to him upon hearing the message from God? Or was it because he did not want God to show mercy to the Ninevites?

We read later that this last reason actually was the cause of his flight, for Jonah knew that the Lord was ‘a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love’ (Jonah 4:2).

The consequences of Jonah’s decision unravelled in all manner of twists and turns. On the boat towards Tarshish, Jonah must have turned green when he had to admit his story and was thrown into the sea (1:9–15). Although rough for Jonah, this was a good decision by the sailors because when the sea turned calm they turned to the Lord (v16).

Finding himself inside the belly of a ‘huge fish’ for three days and nights, Jonah turned to God in prayer (2:1–10), crying in distress, remembering the holiness of God and committing himself to sacrificial giving. On deciding to ‘make good’, Jonah turned from disobedience to obedience and went God’s way (3:3).

The people of Nineveh heard the message and turned from their wicked ways (3:5–9). They donned sackcloth and fasted, calling ‘urgently on God’ (v8). God’s anger and wrath for the people of Nineveh turned into love and forgiveness when he saw ‘how they turned from their evil ways’ (3:10).

Jonah struggled with the outcome of his journey. He was not happy that God had forgiven the people of Nineveh. We leave Jonah in an uncomfortable place, where he is finding it hard to deal with the consequences of his actions (see chapter 4).

Jonah had learnt that God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8 and 9). He also learnt that we cannot escape God or flee from his Spirit or presence (Psalm 139:7).

Jonah’s journey echoes the truth that God’s plans are ‘to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’ (Jeremiah 29:11).

Every day, no matter what you do,
Will be the result of decisions made by you.
Like what time you get up in the morning, or go to bed at night,
Whether you travel to the left or turn to the right,
If you say yes, or if you say no,
Whatever you decide is the way you’ll go.
And reading the letters you get in the mail
Creates another decision trail.
Each daily decision, made in joy or strife,
Helps form the foundation of your life.
(Robert Saehloff)

I do not know what decisions you are facing in your life, but I know the God who is with you through every twist and turn. Proverbs 3:5 and 6 tells us: ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.’

I pray that we, as God’s people, will be bold enough to obey, follow and trust as we walk through life with him.

by Captain Mann is corps officer at Greenock