Ready, Set, RUN

"I'm ready to go." These are words I frequently said (or should I say, groaned) to my parents as a child. I was always "on the go," and admittedly preferred everyone else to run on my time too. However, that rarely if ever happened, and I would be less than enthused when others didn't follow my personal agenda. I have never quite been the epitome of patience when it comes to my time and self-created ideal schedule! My family grew pretty used to this statement throughout the years, and I can remember the time I really put it to the test! Every summer, my family went on several camping trips for vacation. We frequently went to a favorite campground that had a large pool where we could go and spend the afternoon during the hottest part of the day. Like many times before, my family spent a hot August day at that pool having a great time!... Until... I decided I was done.

 I was about 9 years old at the time, and I decided I was ready to go back to our campsite to change into my clothes and ride my bike. I expressed this wish to my parents and my brother who told me that they were not ready to go yet, and that I would have to wait. "Ugh." My 9-year-old self tried several more times to get my parents to leave without success. Finally, around the 7th time of pleading my case, my dad said something he would soon regret. "Katelyn, if you want to go back so bad, you're going to have to walk-because we are not leaving yet!" Now, it is important for you to know that the pool was not really walking distance from our campsite. It was about 2 miles away, and we had taken the truck to get there. It is also important for you to know that I knew my dad was not at all being serious with his frustrated comment. However, I decided to take him up on that offer! When my parents weren't looking, I grabbed my beach towel, slipped out of the pool gate, and started walking back to the campsite. 

I've always been very determined (good and bad quality), and with every passing step I grew more and more determined. I figured they would soon realize I had left and would be following me shortly. I knew they wouldn't ever think I could make my way back to camp on my own, so I decided I was going to prove them wrong! I started running. I'm sure I got some strange looks from other campers who saw my 9 year old self running down the road in a lime green swimsuit, pink flip flops, orange goggles around my head, and a beach towel around my neck. I started to get very tired about a quarter of the way there, but I couldn't stop. I just knew my family would be following me in the truck any moment and I needed to beat them. I ran and ran and finally, I rounded the corner to our campsite. I had made it! I felt very proud of myself and went into the camper, changed my clothes, and went out to go sit in a lawn chair to wait for my family. I propped my feet up, crossed my arms behind my head, and waited. Sure enough, I saw the truck coming and I started grinning waiting for my congratulations. However, when they got closer, I realized they weren't smiling. They got out, and while they were very surprised I managed to get myself back on my own two little legs, they were not happy with me. My dad asked me why I left and ran from him. I got quite the lecture that day about how dangerous that was, "stranger danger," and how I had disobeyed. What resulted was a very long time standing next to a designated tree which was "camping timeout." I had a long time to think and learn some things standing next to that tree. I learned that my will wasn't always helpful, 2 miles is longer than I thought in flip flops, and most importantly, running from my father was not a good idea.

As I reflect on this story, I began thinking about the significance. So many times in life, I have run ahead, pushed my agenda, and disobeyed. Not just against my earthly father, but my Heavenly Father. I get impatient and frustrated and try to take matters into my own hands. What results is an exhausted, prideful, and defeated Katie who thinks she can keep up with a whirlwind pace in a race that was not meant to be run alone. Sound familiar? I am guessing I am not alone in this! It's easy to do. There's a man in the Bible that learned this lesson too! When I remembered this story, I thought of Jonah. The Bible says that Jonah was called by God to go and preach repentance to the wicked city of Nineveh; to the people who were exceedingly indulging in their sinful behavior. However, instead of obeying the Lord, Jonah decides to flee from the presence of God (Jonah 1:1-3). He does not like what God tells him to do and instead finds a ship heading the opposite direction towards the city of Tarshish instead. I can imagine like my 9-year-old self, Jonah might've been feeling pretty prideful with his escape plan. He thinks he knows best. That he is in control. That he can outrun anything and anyone. Then, like life has a way of doing-the storm comes rolling in. In Jonah chapter 4, it says "But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time, Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold (Jonah 1:4-5 NLT)." Jonah is so content in his disobedience, he sleeps! "I made it. I'm going to rest here with my hands behind my head and wait for my congratulations."...

As I have learned time and time again, disobedience never results in positive consequences for me. The same was true for Jonah. If you are familiar with this story, you might remember that Jonah finally admits to the sailors that he is running from the presence of the Lord. The men become afraid and ask him what they should do to calm this terrible storm. Jonah answers and tells them "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the storm will become calm for you. For I know that this great storm is because of me (Jonah 1:12)." The men try rowing harder and harder against the waves towards land, but they also found that they could not outrun or outwork what the Lord set into motion. Finally, the men heed to the Lord, and toss Jonah into the sea. The sea ceased from its raging, and the men feared the Lord and offered Him a sacrifice (Jonah 1:16).

But the Lord didn't abandon Jonah. In verse 17, we learn that "the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and there he stayed in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights." God's mercy is so great, that he protected Jonah despite his disobedience. He did the same for me that day when I ran from my father. Now, I am admittedly very glad my protection didn't involve spending three days and nights in a fish...I am not sure my lime green swimsuit or my orange goggles would've done me much good in there (gross!) However, looking back, He did protect me. Now that I am older and understand the dangers that exist in the world we live in and happen to have a career that focuses heavily on protecting children, I understand that God was with me as I ran. Just like Jonah, my disobedience didn't come without consequence. He protects, but that protection isn't always void of a consequence. God needed to show Jonah that He was serious about His command. Jonah cries out from the belly of the fish, and the Lord commands the fish to spit Jonah up onto dry land. The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time asking him to go to Nineveh to preach, and this time Jonah listens to the Lord.

I would like to say that after learning this lesson, I never ran ahead or away again. That I always wait for the Lord and listen to what He says. But that is not true. I have had to learn this lesson again and again. Sometimes it's a short-tempered response instead of holding my tongue and choosing wisdom over getting even. Other times it has been a nudge deep in my spirit with a task that feels too awkward, hard, or uncomfortable to complete. Or letting shame send me running away from the open arms of a loving Father who is ready to forgive. Maybe for you, it's a calling from God that feels too scary and you aren't sure where to start. Or a relationship you have forced that you know isn't right, but you try to outrun the loneliness. If I have learned anything from these moments, it is that blessings follow when we obey. In Luke 11 verse 28, Jesus says "blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" His plan is far better than our own. Isaiah 55: 8-9 says "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways. And My thoughts than your thoughts." When Jonah went to Nineveh and obeyed the Lord, the people there turned from their wicked ways and began to believe in the Lord. God relented from the disaster that He said He would bring upon them, and He did not destroy them because they obeyed. However, just like we often learn again and again, Jonah had to learn another lesson about God's mercy.

Although his preaching is a success, Jonah becomes angry and discouraged that God shows the Ninevites mercy. So angry, that he says "Ah Lord, was this not what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!" Wow. Pretty strong words from someone who was just rescued from the belly of a fish by the Lord after his own sin. The Lord in His patience asks Jonah "is it right for you to be angry?" Jonah goes out of the city sulking in his anger and builds a shelter to sit and watch what will happen to the city of Nineveh. Even still, the Lord is kind to Jonah and prepares a plant that comes up over Jonah to provide him shade. I like to think of this as Jonah's own "camping timeout" that God uses to teach Jonah some lessons and require him to reflect. Haha! In Jonah 4:7, it goes on to say, "as the morning dawned the next day, the Lord prepared a worm, and so it damaged the plant that it withered." When Jonah feels the sun beating down on his head, he grows faint and even wishes death on himself. Jonah says, "it is right for me to be angry, even to death!" But the Lord replies "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and died in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left-and much less livestock (Jonah 4:10-11)?” Jonah learns firsthand God's relentless compassion for sinful men. His mercy is great. He wants to show us that if we turn from our sin, repent, and obey His word, He forgives. He redeems. He restores. We can't outrun that kind of Father. That kind of grace.

Maybe you're like me, and you find yourself running ahead or away from God's best sometimes. Not always listening to the loving instruction of our Father who wants to protect us and to keep us safe. Who has a good plan for each and every one of us. Therefore, if we are going to run-let's run the right way! "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2)." Let’s remember the grace and mercy that God shows us every day despite our mistakes. That He is ready to forgive and help us run the right way. That we are children of a loving Father who is waiting for us to come running to Him- not away. 

Ready? Set? RUN.

Choosing bold faith with you,

Katie

"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast." 

Psalm 139:7-10