Running From the Call
Listen to today's devotional
Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
You have been putting off that invitation to speak at your church for weeks, feeling the weight of judgment and the fear that you will stumble. The story you are about to read is not about a prophet who hates people; it is about the same tight knot you feel in your stomach when God’s direction pushes you into an uncomfortable place. It is a mirror that shows how you try to outrun a call that is already inside you, and how the ocean of your own excuses can quickly become a storm you cannot calm.
In the first chapter Jonah boards a ship heading in the opposite direction of Nineveh. The narrative tells us the wind is a fierce, sudden gale, the sea roars, and the sailors cry out to their gods while Jonah sleeps below deck, his feet tucked under him. A careful eye notes that the sailors, strangers to Jonah, each pray to their own deity and then to the God of Israel once the storm is linked to Jonah’s disobedience. The casual reader might miss that the ship’s captain, after hearing Jonah’s confession, orders him to be thrown overboard, trusting that the sea itself will obey the One who created it. The fish that swallows Jonah becomes a dark, cramped tomb where prayer is forced.
This week, when the pressure builds and the easiest route is to stay silent, remember that the storm does not disappear because you ignore it. It may simply move you deeper into the water, where the only breathing room is a prayer that acknowledges your fear. Allow the discomfort to become a place of honest dialogue with God, rather than a reason to flee. As you walk through your meetings, traffic, or quiet moments at home, ask yourself whether you are steering toward the shore God has marked, or merely drifting with the current of your own avoidance.
Life Application
Set a timer for ten minutes tonight. Write down the specific invitation or task you have been avoiding, then write a short prayer that names the fear attached to it. After you finish, send the note to a trusted friend or mentor, asking them to pray with you and to check in next week.
It will be hard because the habit of silence feels safer than the possibility of failure, and the voice of criticism inside you is loud. Yet the same patience that kept Jonah alive in the fish’s belly is at work in your own heart, reminding you that a moment of vulnerability is not a verdict on your worth.
Running from God’s call only lengthens the distance between you and the peace He offers.
Reflect on this
What would it look like if you answered God’s invitation today, even if the outcome is uncertain?
Today's challenge
Before you turn off the lights tonight, write one sentence on a piece of paper that states the invitation you will accept tomorrow, and place it where you will see it in the morning.
A prayer
Lord, I admit I have been hiding behind excuses. Help me to hear the call that trembles in my chest and give me the courage to step forward. Keep me steady when the wind blows hard, and remind me that my worth is not tied to my performance. Thank you for staying with me in the dark places.