They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. - Jonah 2:8 KJV
These are the words of the prophet Jonah-the painful words of a man that has heard the voice and direction of God and run the other way. Many times in my life and your life we have cried out to God for direction. We have said, "I want to be a part of your increasing Kingdom. I want to live in your anointing of the Holy Spirit and see the power and glory of God!" Then, when the Lord spoke that directional word, did we obey Him with instant obedience? Did we recognize those marching orders as God's will for our lives or did we see it as too difficult? Did we rejoice in the gift of a fresh commission or did it frighten us and appear too hard to accomplish. It seems that most of the time when the Lord gives us our new orders, they are bigger than our faith. We look out ahead toward the vision God has given us and we can only see our faith coming up short of finishing the task. That is God allowing us to live in desperation and dependence upon his provision day by day.
When we hear a fresh word from God, it almost always is frightening. Thus, the temptation to run from it or more often we "dumb it down" to something we feel is more in our realm of faith. Truthfully, God doesn't ask us to do what we can do. He calls on us to do the impossible, that which is beyond our ability. After a task is completed we should always look at the results and say, "only God could do that!" That moment of hearing fresh direction from the Holy Spirit is a critical place. What will we do when we see the potential of our failure looming in our future? This was the dilemma of Jonah. What did he do when his ears were still ringing with the words of God? He ran!
I wonder how many earth shaking directional words from God have been abandoned by His servants? What could be so powerful as to cause a believer to run from God? Lies! Satan is the "father of lies." The enemy of our souls and of Kingdom expansion on the earth tells lies to those who have the capacity to shake the world! Jonah was a world shaker! God saw that and gave him a call, a commission. I can only imagine the lies that he heard. "Who are you to preach to that great city Nineveh? They will eat you alive! God won't keep you from failing there! God won't provide for you there! You will be seen as a total failure if you obey. People will honor you to your face but will despise you to your back!" Yes, I can only imagine, but more than that, I have heard those words time and again and have had to do warfare against them. When we hear those words we only have two choices, obey or run! If we run because of a lie, we will learn to live on increasing lies. Jonah, in the belly of a great fish, had run on lies until in God's faithfulness, he had nowhere else to run. Lies lead to deception! Thank God Jonah came to himself as the prodigal son came to himself. He arose! From a dark place, he said in the early moments of his epiphany, "those who listen to lying vanities forsake their own mercies." Those who believe the lies of the devil rather than the words of God abandon mercy. There is no hope in a life of lies. He made a decision to leave sin and deception and embrace Truth. As in all repentance, he made a life directional change and turned back to God and His plan for his life. The result was success! It was revival!
I'm not sure where this word finds you today. I have no idea what fears caused you to run from obedience to God and His plan for you. But I do know that a simple heart and mind change regarding God always gets a redemptive response from your Heavenly Father! Resist the lies and renounce them as being the lies that they are and believe God's wonderful Word. Embrace His plans for your life and mission.
