The Lord gave this message to Jonah…’Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh’…But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. Jonah 1:1-3 NLT.
Jonah was an anti-hero. In the apparently fictional story of a man from Gath-Hepher in northern Israel, he is summoned by God to go and preach to the people of Ninevah, the capital of the wicked Assyrians – modern day Iraq. If Jonah had been heroic, he would have said, “whatever you, God, want, I am ready to do.”
But Jonah immediately flees from God’s direction. This was because Jonah did not want to see Ninevah saved. He knew they were wicked and violent, and he wanted them to be destroyed by God. So why Jonah?
Jonah is a good example of what a person does who is not willing to be prepared by God. The best example of Jonah’s opposite was Isaiah who when he encountered God said, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Totally humbled by God’s presence.
When a seraph touched his lips with a coal from the altar, Isaiah responded to the question, “Who will go?” presumably to speak for the Lord. Isaiah said, “Here I am; send me.” Here there was no fleeing from God but going toward God and God’s service.
Being prepared means acknowledging one’s shortcomings and making changes where needed. Like Isaiah did. Certainly not like Jonah.
Prayer: God of Jonah and Isaiah. We pray for honesty and humility, so that we can see our weaknesses and submit our lives to your transformation. May we, like Isaiah, say ‘Send me’ rather than running the opposite way. In your name we pray. Amen.