Jonah May 28/2023 Where's Your Tarshish?


The highest state of grace to which you will ever attain is loving the glory of God.  When William C. Burns was leafing Scotland for China one put it to him sarcastically: 'I suppose you are going to China to convert the Chinese/' He replied" 'No, I am going to China to glorify God.'  May God hasten the hour  when we all have devotion like that, when we see that God has a will of His own and that the ways of the Lord are right.

Well then, the book of Jonah shows us that God's prerogative to do what He wills may not be on our schedule.  What God wants to be done may not be that which we anticipated.

Now, I raised the question: Why Nineveh?  But I want to put another question: Why Jonah?  We don't know much about this man Jonah.  He is only referred to one other time in the Old Testament.  You will find that in 2 Kings 14:25 Jonah had once been used of the Lord.  Perhaps not in a spectacular way but Jonah nonetheless had seen God use him.  But then, why would God come to Jonah at a particular time and say; 'Go to Nineveh'?

We sometimes want to ask, Why is God asking me to do this?  Do you remember the time when you were under great conviction of sin; or before you came into the assurance of your salvation?  Conviction - do you know what it is?  It is a miserable felling and it was at that time that you were wrestling with God.  You were like that giant blue marlin I was talking about, racing into the sea going the opposite way  - though God's hook was in your jaw beginning to reel you back.  You had that feeling of knowing God had tapped you on the shoulder. You begin  to say: 'Why me, why this miserable feeling?'  Could I be addressing someone who is beginning to experience this now?  Perhaps you have always thought you were a Christian but you are coming to the realization that you are not a Christian.  Or perhaps you have always been aware something is making you reassess things and you don't like it.  You are having to reassess the way you thought about things and you are unhappy in this and you think:   Why has this happened to me?  Why me?  Why Jonah? Or since you have been a Christian perhaps God has put His hand on your shoulder and asked you to do something for Him.  Perhaps the task is something that makes you say to yourself: 'I am not capable of doing this.'  You can look at someone else and say: 'Lord, why don't you ask that person to do that?  Why me?' 





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