Nineveh is the Other Direction

Posted by Dion Todd February 7th, 2016 11,311 Views 0 Comments

Now Yahweh's word came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.' But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. Jonah 1:1 WEB

God told Jonah to go preach to Nineveh, but Jonah fled in the opposite direction, boarded a ship, and sailed away to Tarshish. Soon a terrible storm overtook them and the sailors ended up casting Jonah into the stormy sea.

As he was drowning, with seaweed wrapped around his head, a great fish that God had prepared swallowed him. After sitting there in the dark for a while, Jonah came to his senses. He prayed to God from the belly of the fish, and it spit him out on dry land.

This time Jonah headed to Nineveh and ended up saving 120,000 people. It seemed that everyone in the book of Jonah had done what God wanted, even the fish and the heathens. Everyone except His own prophet, Jonah.

Has there ever been a time that the Lord wanted you to do something, but instead you did the exact opposite? I have. We usually know right from wrong but choose to do it anyway.

If you are like me, then you have probably been in the storm and you felt like you were drowning, tangled up in bad stuff, and ready to throw in the towel. We start to think 'If only I had listened, then I would not be here.'

Just remember, it is not over or too late to make a change. You can pray to the Lord from the dark place that you are in and He will restore you, put you back on the path, and then use you to save others, just as He did with Jonah, just as He has done with me.

Prayer: Father, I thank You for Your mercy and grace, and for sparing me from the things that I have well earned. Set my feet on the solid rock and give me a clear vision going forward. Help me to stand steadfast and fulfill Your will in my life, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.

Note: Happy Sunday! Thank you all so much for being part of RHM, whether through your financial support, encouraging words, participation in our online church, or just coming by to read the devotional! You are all greatly appreciated. One thing that we are always looking for is active prayer partners for the online church. There are people who post prayer requests each day and our prayer partners lift them up and post their prayers and encouragement in their replies. If that sounds like something God has for you, please contact us and we will help get you set up. Thank you and have a blessed day!