Jonah had come to the end of his rope. He could not run any more from God; he had no options anyway. Note that we never hear Jonah repenting to the Lord for his disobedience. Pushed to the corner, he confesses to the sailors, but he doesn’t seek God’s forgiveness. Instead he opts to flee even further by committing suicide in the raging water. Asking the men to toss him into the sea was asking for death. I don’t know if it was pride, stubborn rebellion or if it was the height of hopelessness that made him want to end it all in the sea. It is probably all of the above. Jonah just did not think that God could help him.
This is how the spiral of self-destruction works. People rebel against God to have their own way over and against God’s will for them. They even have some fun rebelling, all the while shutting out the voice of Holy Spirit calling them to repent. Soon enough the fun gets out of control, their choices go sour and pain checks in. They get to a place where they are controlled by guilt and shame and it becomes a hide and seek game with God and with people. So they delve deeper and deeper into a life of endless problems. Picture it like a soap opera that turns into a horror show that spins fast into a black hole. Next time you hear of someone involved in all manner of scandals, think of them with a little more compassion and pray that the Holy Spirit will rescue them; they are trapped.
So when God cries out, “whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”, He is making a pained, agonized appeal to those of us that are sober to see these horror shows all around us and do something about it before they are sucked into the black hole. It is you, the believer, who can partner with God to retrieve one who is stuck in the spiral of self-destruction.
The damage may be great, yet as with Jonah, God mercifuly reaches out and rescues. God provided a whale to save Jonah from drowning. He wanted to show him that disciplining him was not equal to discarding him.
Besides, when he disciplines, he walks with us in the length of the discipline. I have been reading through the book of Jeremiah. It is one of those anguished books of the OT. God is very angry with Israel for sinning continually. Eventually he lets Nebuchadnezzar take them to captivity amidst the worst humiliation of the ancient world. The people then feel very hopeless. And then in chapter 29 God comes to them with an assurance of restoration. In fact they are told to work hard, marry and be married and prosper in the country of their exile for God is with them to bless them. It is better to undergo the discipline of the Lord than to be left all on your own.
Now, who around you is a horror show waiting to happen? What will you do about it?
Share your reflection with others on this blog.
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