ON THE VANGUARD

RUNNING
“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.”
Jonah 1:3

Truth be told, running is not my thing. After spending the summer walking with a goal to complete 500 miles, I contemplated doing another 500 in the way of running. That lasted one day. It wasn’t that I wasn’t able, but more so that I kept finding reasons to excuse myself from it. I didn’t have the right shoes. I didn’t have the endurance. I couldn’t talk on the phone and run at the same time. Whatever the excuse may have been, the fact was I had one. I find it funny that I can run for the door of the ice cream shop, but I find it harder to run for my health. It reminds me of two stories I have read in the Bible concerning running. Allow me to explain what I mean.
In Genesis 39 we read of Joseph, the son of Jacob whose brothers had sold him into Egyptian slavery. It is in this chapter we find that Potiphar’s wife had the hots for Joseph and had no problem sharing her feelings with him. On a few occasions she was even blunt enough to ask him to sleep with her. But one day, thinking ahead and having everything planned out, she cleared the house of all the servants and caught him by the cloak. Again she beckoned, “Come to bed with me!” Instead of giving in, Joseph left his cloak behind and ran out of the house.
In Jonah 1, however, we read of another type of running. When the word of the LORD came to Jonah to travel to Nineveh, Jonah decided to run from God. And he didn’t just run, he ran with passion in the opposite direction, boarding a boat bound to any city far enough away to not be in proximity of where God was calling him. I think it is safe to say that Jonah learned that hard way that God cannot be outran when the fish swallowed him up.
Two different examples of running, yet both are important for us as believers. Both offer to us a truth that we would do well to learn. As in the case of Joseph we can learn that temptations will come and it is best to run away from them. Temptation has no power over us and God will always provide a way out (I Cor 10:13). I wonder if we are looking for that way out as often as we should. And if we do see it, are we running towards that out? But then in the case of Jonah, I question if we are running from God. God has a specific plan and purpose for us all, as I shared in cowboy lingo yesterday. But when God gives us that calling or mission, do we run from Him? We should learn from Jonah’s example that not only are we unable to run from Him, but it is not smart to run from Him.
So then, here is my final thought. In the beginning I questioned of myself, why is it that I can run for the door of the ice cream shop, but I find it harder to run for my health? It seems like I have my running purposes backward. Change the words a little and the thought could read, why is that I can run to temptation, but I find it harder to run to where God is calling me? This is not the way it is supposed to be, nor the way I want it to be. Why do I run to and from the opposite of what God is calling me to run to and from? I need a shift in my thinking, and that is what we will discover in tomorrow’s devotional.