“But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa” (Jonah 1:3)

Instead of going to Nineveh to call the city to repentance as God commanded, Jonah tried to escape his duty by taking a boat to Joppa. Unfortunately, even normally faithful saints sometimes disobey God. The inevitable result is the saint loses a sense of “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17), and develops a fear that something bad is going to happen, because “the backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways” (Proverbs 14:14). 

 When you serve the Lord Jesus as you should, God is with you; and even if the whole world is against you, what does it matter? But when you depart from the living God, the emptiness you feel makes you wonder, “how could I have been so foolish?” The pleasure of not doing a distasteful task is far outweighed by the pain of losing His peace. 

 Christian, don’t play the Jonah, unless you want sinners to see your iniquity and throw you overboard because of your disobedience. Don’t run away from God unless you want to be held in limbo for three days and nights while you learn humility. You’ll find in the long run, it’s harder to shun the work of God than to do it. After Jonah repented, he had to go to Tarshish after all. 

 “The way of the unfaithful is hard. Every prudent man acts with knowledge, But a fool lays open his folly. A wicked messenger falls into trouble, But a faithful ambassador brings health. Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, But he who regards a rebuke will be honored” (Proverbs 13:15-17)