14/12/2016 - OPEN PLAN

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Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you. Jonah 3.2

There is something patent in Jonah’s experience: his several descents. He ran away from God and went down to Joppa. Then, to the port, bought a ticket, and went down to the ship. Afterwards, he went down to the ship’s hold and, finally, to the womb of a fish and all the way to the depths of the earth. Everyone that deviates from the divine plan goes deep down, for there is no place to hide from God. However, the divine mercy held Jonah and made him an example to those who deviate from the presence of God.

When he was already on the land, free from the spirit of fear and rebellion that took him away from the Eternal God, he was ordered to fulfill his mission. There is no use in despising God’s advice. Whoever does as such they were foolish to have done their own will. Instead, they could have been gloriously used by the Almighty. Do not stray a millimeter off your call.

He should go to Nineveh, capital of Assyria. Well, the Almighty did not deceive him by saying the work would be small and free of danger. However, that prophet knew that those who obey the Lord are never left behind. No matter how hard the task is, God will move ahead to lead His servant safely, giving him the victory. The work given by Him is the best for us.

Assyrians were barbarians, and knowing this must have been the major obstacle for Jonah to execute the divine order. When we consider whether or not to answer the supreme commandment, the demon comes into play and shows us the danger, the reasons for us not to do such an endeavor. This way, we might take foolish decisions. Those who walk with the Father must never look left or right.

During persecution or times of peace, we should stand up to do what we were ordered. Otherwise, we are going to be accountable for the lost souls. This is the worst thing, because how will we repair the eternal loss of someone who, because of our immaturity, was cast into outer darkness? Those who prefer to stay in comfortable places shall not prove how much God loved them by sending them to the missions.

Jonah should be tough in his preaching, because he needed to speak against Nineveh on the wrongful way they lived and about the perdition that was to come. It surely grieved in his heart the first time he heard the sublime voice sending him to the capital of that country. If you have already feared to obey the Lord and, therefore, have not done as you were told, you know that the price for insubordination is high.

Always do as the Lord says in His Word and so you shall escape from the arrows of the enemy. This does not mean that those suffering any evil or who lost their lives in the mission fields deviated from the Lord’s purposes, but they were chosen for another divine purpose.

Love in Christ,

R. R. Soares