FEAST: 30 Days of Real Truth for Real LifeSample

Day 11: Jonah—Avoidance

Snack

1. You can try to run from God, but you can never truly hide.
2. God’s purposes will always prevail, even if we resist at first.
3. Obedience, though sometimes costly, leads to life for us and others.

Appetiser

Have you ever avoided doing something God asked of you, only to find yourself circling back to it anyway?

Main Course

Jonah was given a clear call: go to Nineveh and proclaim God’s message. Yet instead of obedience, he chose avoidance, boarding a ship headed in the opposite direction. Jonah tried to flee from the presence of the Lord, but running from God is never truly possible (Jonah 1:1–3).

Avoidance often feels easier than obedience in the moment.Jonah’s disobedience didn’t just affect him—the storm endangered everyone on the ship. Our reluctance to follow God’s leading can ripple out and impact those around us too.

When Jonah was thrown into the sea, it should have been the end. But God, in His mercy, provided a great fish to swallow him up (Jonah 1:17). Inside the belly of the fish, Jonah cried out to the Lord in desperation, acknowledging God’s sovereignty and his own need for deliverance. God heard his prayer and commanded the fish to vomit him onto dry land (Jonah 2:1–10).

Sometimes it takes being brought low for us to look up. Jonah’s turning point came in a place of darkness and confinement. It was there that he remembered the Lord and gave thanks for salvation.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: go to Nineveh. Despite his initial resistance, Jonah obeyed (Jonah 3:1–4). His message was simple, yet powerful, and the people of Nineveh responded with repentance.

Jonah’s story reminds us that God is patient with our weakness. He doesn’t discard us when we resist His call but continues to pursue us. Our obedience matters, not just for our own walk with Him but for the lives He wants to touch through us.

When you sense God asking you to do something, will you run or respond? You may feel unqualified, afraid, or reluctant, but God’s grace is sufficient.

Obedience, even when delayed, can still be used powerfully in His hands.