The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the
great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up
before me.”
But Jonah
ran away from the Lord and headed
for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port.
After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. Jonah 1:1-3
The
Assyrians who lived in Nineveh were a cruel nation and feared by all. Jonah could have been afraid of them and ran away.
His fear
led to his hatred of them and believed they were not deserving of hearing a
message of salvation. He prejudice pushed him to run away.
Jonah’s
faith knew God could completely turn around an evil nation and he didn’t like
it. For that reason, his faith told him to run.
Fear, hatred
and faith all coaxed Jonah to run from his calling. Now what's our excuse for running away from God's call on our lives?