Saying "No" to God!

“Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ” ~ Jonah 1:1

As a little girl I thought Jonah was a great story: The prophet of God living inside a whale for three days after being swallowed by a giant whale is an amazing story for people of any age. Jonah, of course, was more than a great children’s story. When examined a little deeper you find that it is a story of the mercy and forgiveness of loving Father: A Father who, rather than destroy a sinful and undeserving people, decided to send a message of hope and redemption. What a beautiful description and display of the Father’s love toward us. There is nothing He would not do to redeem man unto himself. He displayed this love to the greatest degree when HE sent His son, Jesus, to die for the sins of you and me. (singing) O, What love HE has for me!!!

Yes, Jonah was a great story of love, but there is another side of the story that I believe we can relate to all too often: Saying “NO” to God. Jonah is one of the rare stories in the bible where the featured bible character is actually in rebellion against the Lord. It is a story of the a man, a prophet, who in essence, rebelled against the instructions of the Lord. He basically, told God “No, I’m not going to do it” and tried to go the other direction. I have to chuckle every time I think about it. Listen, for a “yes and amen” girl that’s a big deal. How in the world does anyone, especially a Prophet, say no to GOD? Even worse, try to run away from His presence? It sounds ridiculous and funny, doesn’t it?! Yet, I must admit that unfortunately, I have found myself in that same attitude as Jonah: Sad, but true. As a matter of fact, even today I found myself resisting something that I heard Him speak to my spirit. Although I didn’t’ try to run from His presence (lol), I did try to avoid the words He spoke. But you know the Holy Spirit wasn’t having it. I was confronted and my heart repented…..thus my blog entry today. 

"...Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa..." Jonah 1:2-3

Now, I know you may be thinking, “Shame on you, Dorothy!” or saying, “What!? Not, Dorothy” or even sighing, “Girl, I know just how you feel.” No matter your position or commentary on the matter, the fact is, just like Jonah’s, my attitude was all wrong. As much as I wanted to buck against and run away from what I heard the Lord saying, my spirit man (the true me), knew that I must, eventually, surrender. You see, I too, like Jonah, cannot deny that I hear the voice of the Lord. I believe, and have come to know, that I am a mouth piece for Him and that He speaks to my heart. Most often than not my response is “Yes, Lord” or “I hear you Father” or when specific instruction is given, “I will take care of it.” However, there are times that the Lord speaks and I, because of my issues (and we ALL have them), resist His direction and instruction.

One of the fascinating things in the story of Jonah, and there are many, is the fact that the initial reason that Jonah resisted is because I believe he didn’t understand the Father’s heart. He was so consumed with his opinions, his thoughts, his ideas, his PERSPECTIVE, that he couldn’t see what the Father saw: A broken people, consumed in sin, in need of a savior. Jonah couldn’t understand in his finite thinking how the Father could love the ungodly and sinful people of Ninevah. How could God love idol worshippers, sex offenders, thieves, prostitutes and countless other unspeakable things?! Jonah couldn’t understand how His holy God could even want to redeem such a people to himself. Jonah’s actions clearly showed that in all of his loyalty in serving God, he missed the very essence of Him: His unfailing LOVE for His the people He created. He missed the fact that the Father desired from the beginning of time for man to be in fellowship with Him. Genesis shows us that the Father enjoyed fellowshipping with His people and He was saddened when sin entered the picture and broke that communion. He missed the fact that since that time God has desired to redeem man back unto Himself. He missed the fact that the Father’s love saw pass the sins of Ninevah and saw a people in need of Him. Jonah just didn’t get and often times I (we) don’t get it either.

You see, our lives, our gifts, our talents, our abilities were never about US, but rather to fulfill His purposes in the earth!!! He CHOSE Jonah to be a mouth piece that would send a word and set the people free. Instead of Jonah seeing the mercy and love of the Father He, seated in his pride, resisted. “Let the people die in their sins” was Jonah’s thought. He just decided to OVERRIDE the Lord’s decision to give the people the opportunity to be redeemed. How arrogant of him! What pride!!! What a shame…right?! And yet, I (we) have found myself being stuck in that same pride….overriding God’s decisions of mercy and grace….telling God, “No.” Wow. Selah.

I don’t know about you, but my lips and my heart repents to My Father even now: Who are we to ever think that we know better than you, My Lord?! Forgive us. Forgive me. Yes, the Father will ask you and I to say, or do, things that we may not want to, at times. But it is at those times that we must HUMBLE ourselves, BREAK the spirit of Pride, and OPEN hearts and spiritual EYES to see the greater purpose, to see HIS heart. It is NOT about us. God is not always concerned with your comfort. He’s more concerned with the condition of man’s heart. It’s all about HIM and redeeming people unto Him.

The next time the Father speaks to your heart and asks you do something that you may not want to do. When you find yourself resisting what the Lord is saying to you, ask yourself these questions:

• Did I hear the Lord clearly? What instructions did He give me? “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” John 10:27
• Why am I resisting Him, not wanting to obey? Is it fear, pride, personal opinion, self-righteousness, envy, jealousy, etc. “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” Hebrews 12:1
• Ask the Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes to the greater purpose. Ask Him to help you see beyond the natural.”The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” Ephesians 1:18
• Ask the Father to humble your heart and to give you the GRACE to walk in obedience. “Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” James 4:6

Today I say, “YES!!!” to my Father. Yes to His will. Yes, to His way. Yes, to His purposes. Yes, to His plans. I don’t always understand why He does what He does, but I trust that it’s rooted in His unfailing LOVE for you and for me. I choose today to be a willing vessel, what about YOU?!

My Love Song to HIM!!!