In 1971 the Three Dog Night sang, “Never Been to Spain.” It was a real hit and was right up on the top of the charts. I don’t know if they ever got to Spain, but I do know Jonah didn’t. You see Tarshish was a port in southern Spain.

It wasn’t because he didn’t plan the trip.  When he boarded that ship, his destination was Spain. However, when that ship reached Spain, Jonah was missing. The reason for that was God was in charge of the itinerary.

Jonah 1:3

 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

We believe ourselves to be a free agent, but God can override any plan.

Proverbs 19:21

There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.

The best course of action is to listen to God and do it, even if you never get to Spain.

Think about it.

Gary

They were just pagan mariners who came to know the living God because of the disobedience of one of His prophets. These men learned how to pray and call on God because they observed God’s dealing with His own.

Jonah 1:13-16

 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.  Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.”  So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.  Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.

No, it wasn’t global warming. Truth is God is in charge of all storms and that is true throughout history.  Jonah was to present truth to pagans, but he didn’t think he would begin with the crew of this ship.

Think about it.

Gary

If you worship God like Jonah confessed, but are on the run from Him, you’re in a real pickle. God just happened to have some seafarers who, although they didn’t know it, were His servants.  They interrogated Jonah, tried to save his life, and ultimately had to attempt his execution by drowning him.

Jonah 1:9-10

He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

If you are a child of God, don’t run, submit, The love of God won’t let you go but will follow you and hound you in such a way, you’ll cry out for repentance. God has hitmen.

Give it some thought.

Gary

I sure enjoyed those poker games when I was young. Not that I ever made any money from the pursuit, but it was just the excitement of the game.  Would God ever affect the outcome of a chance game? Well, He did once.

Jonah 1:7-8

Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

God made it clear through the roll of the dice that Jonah was the problem. You can’t win a game of chance when God is a major player. Jonah was found out, but it really wasn’t by chance.

Jonah, you can run but you can’t hide.

Give it some thought.

Gary

I don’t know where Ida came from or why she caused so much destruction from Louisiana to Maine. However, there is one storm that had God’s fingerprints all over it and that’s the one found in the book of Jonah.

Jonah 1:4

Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

The only person in that storm who wasn’t disturbed was Jonah. Strange isn’t it? However, the results of the storm on the mariners would soon have Jonah in the sea with a totally different demeanor.

Why do storms come into our lives? I certainly don’t have the answers to that, but I do know that God can create a storm for His own purposes.

Give it some thought.

Gary

In the age of prophets, Jonah was chosen to preach to Nineveh. However, even true prophets can be rebellious and attempt their own will instead of God’s will. This is a statement found in:

Jonah 1:3

But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

I get a kick out of the statement, “paid the fare.” Jonah had no idea of the cost of that mistake. Read the account and discover the real cost of rebellion for Jonah.

Here is how God looks at rebellion:

1 Samuel 15:23

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. 

Don’t rebel against God’s word. The price of rebellion is too high.

Think about it.

Gary

Instrumentation on a 727 includes air conditioning, APU, autopilot electrics, fire protection flight controls, fuel system, GPWS, hydraulics,  ice & rain protection, landing gear & brakes, oxygen, pitot static system, pneumatics, power plant, pressurization, windows, and yaw dampers plus many more buttons, switches and gadgets. It takes about eight years of training before someone can get into the pilot’s seat.

The Creator of the universe has given us instructions on this flight through life. We should never leave anything to chance or experimentation.  The manual needs to be studied and implemented.

Let me make it less complicated.

Psalm 25:4

Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.

Now go out there and fly right.

Think about it.

Gary