1The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
3 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)
Theme: If not You, then Who?
Yesterday’s commentaries related to the Discipline of Bible Study provided some superb testimonies. I strongly encourage you to read them if you haven’t done so yet. Thank you very much to all who shared!
Today we turn our attention to the Discipline of Spiritual Warfare. When we decide to work in God’s army the one thing we can be assured of is opposition. Here are just a few Biblical examples:
- Moses opposed by Jannes and Jambres (2 Timothy 3:8)
- Nehemiah opposed by Sanballat and Tobiah (Nehemiah 4)
- Jesus opposed by Satan (Matthew 4:1 – 11)
- The Apostle Paul opposed by Satan (1 Thessalonians 2:18)
Sometimes spiritual warfare doesn’t show up as an external adversary. There are also internal battles that have the potential to blow us off course. The story of Jonah in our passage for the day is a good case in point. God issued clear instructions to Jonah. Yet, instead of heading to Nineveh as God instructed, Jonah heads to Tarshish, which is thousands of miles away from Nineveh.
Please read the passage above and consider the question below.
Question
What are some key pitfalls (external or internal) we should be mindful of that run counter to God’s direction?