Are you running?




There are two types of people when God tells you to do something-those who obey and those who do not. In the Bible, there are many examples of this! I am going to be talking about two people today who reacted to God's calling in these two different ways- Abraham and Jonah. 

In Genesis, (12:1-4) it records this,

"Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him" 

It goes on, but the main point I wanted to show here was: the Lord said "go" and so Abram went.

Now lets look at the other story- Jonah's.

Jonah 1:1-3,

"Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of A-mit-tai 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 Tar-shish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa: and he found a ship going to Tar-shish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tar-shish from the presence of the LORD."

Obviously, this story was very different: the LORD said "go" and Jonah ran...away.

I am going to be honest- most of my life, I have been a Jonah. Saying things like, "Oh, God didn't really mean that," or "Why ME, God?" Sometimes God tells you to do some crazy things- but it is all to bring glory to Him and to His Kingdom. Abram (later Abraham) was wise. He knew God was telling him to do something that he would eventually reaped the benefits of. In Jonah's case though- God didn't tell him upfront why exactly He wanted him to go to Nineveh and what would eventually happen. Often times, we know that God is telling us to do something, but since we don't know what is going to come of it- we just run away from it. We think "that will make me look crazy, God!" Do you really think that God cares if YOU look crazy? You not obeying Him is what He finds crazy. 

Sometimes it feels easier to be a Jonah. If you run far enough from God then maybe He won't care that you didn't do what He said to do. If you have the Holy Spirit in you though, you know that He is not going to leave you alone- haha!

Can I tell you something though, in the end, both men did exactly what God wanted them to do- it just took one of them a little longer to finally say "Okay, God, you're right." (That's from the MJV- the Madison Jade Version- because Jonah didn't say those words exactly. He fought a lot more before giving in.) No matter what- God is going to always get His way in the end. You might as well listen- He knows what is best for us. 

What came of them you ask?

Abraham became the father of many nations. Jonah- with God's help- saved 120,000 people from a city God was about to utterly destroy. 

They both were asked to do things that people would consider "crazy," but in the end- the results that came from obeying were huge.

God doesn't use perfect people- He works best with broken people.

God does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called.

 
27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

So, who are you? Have you been obeying God- or running away from Him? 

I hope that you enjoyed this post!! If you have any questions or prayer requests- please do not hesitate to message me on my Instagram- @madisonjadeig

I hope everyone has a great week!!!

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