Jonah

If this wasn’t a serious matter, it would be funny, even today people still try to pull a Jonah with (run from) God. The Lord is omnipotent, He is everywhere, you can’t evade Him as stated in Jeremiah 23:24 (AMP)
Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.
Have you run or still running from the Lord?
Have you ever wished you could have a second chance in life?
Have you ever done something that you deeply regretted the moment you did it?
We have all made mistakes. We have all done things that we are running from or wish we could. But I have good news for you: God gives second chances … third chances … fourth chances … fifth chances, at least until He has you where He wants you.
Jonah was a man on a mission, a mission to run from God, to evade his assignment but God didn’t allow him.
He had an assignment to do, one he wanted nothing to do with. He was to go one way but went the opposite direction.
Has God given you an assignment that you’ve either run away from or are thinking of running from?
I always jokingly say to my children not to be a Jonah because there is nobody of water big enough near us to hold a Whale to swallow them if they choose to run from God. We must all remember before we decide to run away from the Lord that we can’t hide from Him but in Him according to
Psalm 32:7 (AMP)
You are a hiding place for me; You, Lord, preserve me from trouble, You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
Why would one want to run from the Lord anyway? John 3:20 states simply that sin is the main reason one runs from God.
Have you been running from God your entire life?
Were you raised in a Christian home but now thinks it’s too much to be a Christian?
Or you don’t want to go to church anymore.
Or to live by what the Bible says.
Maybe like so many, you want to go out and have fun, the fun you think you can’t have in God.
You want to do what you want!
You may even be saying, “I’m gonna run away.” To where will you run and to whom? See
Psalm 73:25 (AMP)
Whom have I in heaven but You? And I have no delight or desire on earth besides You.

Adam and Eve didn’t go far when they ran from God in Genesis 3:8.! How far can you get from God anyway?
If you long to experience peace with God, run to Him and not away from Him. He is there and wants to embrace you.
Jonah went to Tarshish instead of Nineveh, unfortunately not all running away involves geography. When we sense God leading us in a direction, we find it difficult to pry our fingers from our plans. However, we discover when we ignore Him and pursue our plans that God’s tracking system has a wider range than we thought. And He finds us in ways we’d never expect as Jonah 1:3 (AMP)
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from being in the presence of the Lord [as His prophet] and went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish [the most remote of the Phoenician trading places then known]. So he paid the appointed fare and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish from being in the presence of the Lord [as His servant and minister].

Some people run from God because of bitterness towards Him over tragic events in their life, such as the death of a loved one, an illness, divorce and more, things God didn’t cause to happen.
We oftentimes unfairly place God on trial, when sin is to blame for our miseries, and not God.
The God Jonah was running from would not let Jonah leave Him behind — He wreaked havoc with Jonah’s plans to gain his attention. He’ll do the same with you because He loves you, He won’t let you run from Him.
Luke 15:4 says He’ll always come looking for you. Stop running from God because you can’t state Psalm 139:7-10.
Like Jonah, you won’t get far.
Shalom