Christ Kona?

inclinations instead of being obedient
to God’s directions. However, in that
complication it is grace that lays hold of
the runaway prophet. As he is swallowed
alive, supposedly descending to
his watery grave, he finds grace. His
agenda has taken him to a place that has
no light. Now that his eyes are useless
he sees the futility of his ways. It was at
his darkest hour that Jonah actually saw
the light of grace shine the brightest. It
was in the lowest of places that he hit
the highest of notes. Jonah reached the
zenith of his spiritual experience at the
nadir of his life. It is at this point that he
prays to his God; the Presence he is trying
to flee from finds him in the most
unlikely of places, and in the darkness
of the temporary grave he recognizes
with clarity the faultiness of his agenda.
Learning Curve
It seems that one of the lessons to be
learned from Jonah’s experience is not to
wait until we experience our darkest
hour or are at our rope’s end before we
actually realize how foolish it is to follow
a shallow self-centered agenda. Agendas
have a knack of complicating life, often
being diametrically opposed to God’s
plan and stemming from our own selfcentered
views (albeit many times wellthought-through
and well-researched).
We are called to constantly be honest
with ourselves and reevaluate the
motives of our actions. We must be willing
to accept that our decisions, positions
on issues, as individuals or churches, are
many times biased and driven by our
agendas, rather than honest introspection
and prayer for divine direction. We
tend to pray for God to approve what we
have already chosen, rather than praying
for the best course of action to follow.
Perhaps our conversations and actions
would take a different turn and tone if we
would acknowledge our agendas, amend
them, and then converse with each other,
attempting to understand rather than
polarizing each other. Perhaps the complications
we run into would diminish if
we would actually surrender to the God
who hears the prayer of those who are in
dire circumstances, even when they are
self-inflicted, only to grant them the second
chances they need to grow, change,
and impact the kingdom. Maybe we
should stop running, reexamine ourselves,
and discover where our actions
truly come from and ask the God of light
to redirect our course, change our
motives, and—as we walk in the right
direction—rediscover the joy of a life led
by God’s gentle and prodding voice. n
1
Reed Lessing, Jonah, Concordia Bible Commentary
(St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2007), p. 27.
2
Unless otherwise noted, all biblical references are
from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979,
1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.
All rights reserved.
3
The Hebrew verb yarad is used three times in the first
chapter as an indication perhaps of the prophet’s direction.
He “goes down” to Joppa, then “goes down” into the
ship (Jonah 1:3); he “goes down” into the interior of the
ship (verse 5); and finally he completes his descent in
verse 17 when he “goes down” into the belly of the fish.
4
Uriel Simon, Jonah, JPS Bible Commentary (Philadelphia:
Jewish Publication Society, 1999), p. 5.
5
Jonah’s anger in chapter 4 is key to understanding this
concept. He explains his anger on the basis of knowing
God was a merciful God and thus would forgive the heathen
Ninevites, which is why he ran away from this call.
J. Harold Alomía is senior
pastor of the Campion Seventhday
Adventist Church in Loveland,
Colorado. He is married to Rosie,
with whom he enjoys photography,
sports, time with friends, and music.
www.AdventistReview.org | May 16, 2013 | (433) 17