Running to Tarshish?


Running to Tarshish?

Our journey to Cambodia takes flight next Monday, July 16th. It’s hard to believe that the dream God laid on our hearts last September is coming to fruition so quickly! Our team is a mixture of excitement and nervousness, since for many of us it is our first trip over seas. Our current concerns include air travel, health, culture shock, safety, and dietary changes. Even though there are many new changes coming, we trust in our God, who has us in the palm of his hand and is leading us according to his perfect will.

As I was reflecting on the trip this past week, I found a message that I heard particularly challenging and applicable. My husband Chad and I attended a summer camp specifically for adults with special needs. At this camp, the chaplain talked to us about Jonah. The story of Jonah and the Whale is a well-known one. No one forgets about the man who ran away from God and ended up inside the belly of a whale…talk about natural consequences! Throughout the week, we talked about Jonah’s desire to stay away from Nineveh, a city filled to the brim with wicked people. We talked about the crew on the runaway ship headed to Tarshish, praying to other gods, not hearing an answer. We talked about Jonah being tossed off the ship and gulped down by a whale, where he prayed for three days and three nights. And alas! Jonah was spit out by the whale and journeyed to Nineveh, the place where God intended him to be in the first place. And wouldn’t you know it, when Jonah preached God’s word to the people of Nineveh and told them to turn from their wicked ways…they did!

Here’s the challenge, though. When Jonah finally preached the word of God to the Ninevites and they turned from their evil ways, did that take away the wickedness in the world? Can we say, “Thanks, Jonah! You saved us from all wickedness!”

No.

It doesn’t take long to look around and see the wickedness that still exists in the world. How many places, like Nineveh, have never heard the word of the Lord? How many don’t know the grace and forgiveness offered by a Savior who sacrificed his life for us?

So here we go. God is using us to be a Jonah in Cambodia. There is nothing special about us. We are not extraordinary people. Thankfully, all we have to do is say yes to his call, and he uses the ordinary in extraordinary ways. He’s sending us to share his love and the power of the gospel to people like us-craving grace and hope.

Will you be a Jonah? At your workplace? School? Sports team? Passivity is like running to Tarshish. Sometimes the more challenging path is the straightest one, and I hear there aren’t many whales there ;) .

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