Where Are They Now? a Sequel: the One That Got Away
the heart of Biblical Greats
October 17th, 2021
Romans 8:3-4, ‘God went for the jugular when He sent His own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In His Son, Jesus, He personally took on the human condition, entered into the disorderly mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that. The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.’ (the MESSAGE)
the One That Got Away
Jonah 1:3, ‘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.’
I did everything I could to ditch Him. I knew His assignment for me, and I knew it was profound and of utmost importance. Why me? I asked the Lord God but He didn’t answer me. He simply continued giving instruction. He sent me one direction and I went the opposite, as fast as I could even. With purpose, fueled by rage and my own decisiveness. I hid in the innards of a ship, yet I knew His eyes were upon me. I could feel His presence spilling over the sides of the ship, and when the storm grew angry it reminded me of God with a furrowed brow and an iron fist. It was like being in a great mixing bowl as the waters churned and roiled; the ship too agitated. There was a huge scarlet letter imprinted across my forehead when the mates began disassembling the team. Their eyes bore through me, ‘Pick me! Pick me!’ my spirit chided as they drew lots for the culprit of the violent sea. It was like they were suddenly seeing me through the Lord God’s lens; they knew what I had done. Yep, they picked me right up and tossed me over the side as if I were a sinker on a giant pole, or worse, like a rotted piece of meat being pitched overboard to rid the smell. But in my case, it was to rid the impending harm due to association.
Sure enough, that sea settled right down. What was a travesty, a tumultuous tempest instantaneously became like the calm of a baby’s nap. Shore ‘nough, that said it all. That ship sailed no sooner than I made a big splash. It was a whale of shocker, I’m telling you. I counted the ribs on the way down, not very certain where I had landed. From the belly of a boat to the belly of a Beluga. Now that’s a humbling experience. I settled in, hoping He wouldn’t see me here.
But He would. He would see me all the way along. He would meet me in the regurgitation convulsions of a surprised fish and find me vomited out on a sandy shore. He would shipwreck me with a treasure hunt leading toward His destination, not mine. And when I ran again in the opposite direction of His leading, He would follow me; in fact, He would chase me down. He would pursue me. He would show up in my space. I don’t suggest you try to run from Him because He will come for you, no matter where you flee or hide. He will find you. He loves you and me just that much.
John 3:16-17, ‘”For here is the way God loved the world—He gave His only, unique Son as a gift. So now everyone who believes in Him will never perish but experience everlasting life. God did not send His Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, but to be its Savior and rescue it!”’ (TPT)
