"Jonah and Joy": Sept. 23, 2003

The prophet Jonah disobeyed God’s specific command and commission to him and headed out to sea instead of cross-country to Nineveh. “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me. But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD” (1:1-3).

What happened when Jonah tried to get away from God? “In his excellent preaching on Jonah, Donald Grey Barnhouse…noted that Jonah did not get to where he was going, since he was thrown overboard, and the he obviously didn’t get a refund on his ticket. So he paid the full fare and did not get to the end of his journey. Barnhouse said, ‘It is always that way. When you run away from the Lord you never get where you are going, and you always pay your own fare.” (from John MacArthur’s The Minor Prophets, vol. 1, page 216)

Think about it. Like Jonah, when we disobey the Lord’s commands and try to flee from Him, we never get where we want to go, the place of satisfaction and contentment. And we pay a price, a heavy price. But it need not be this way for us.

Our Lord Jesus does not call us to obey His commands (and commission) to keep us under His thumb or ruin our fun or limit us. He calls us to obey Him…FOR OUR JOY! “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be full” (Jon 15:9-11). What better place to abide than in Christ’s love? And what greater joy than that which Jesus gives? Full joy!

This is not to say that pursuing Christ in obedience will always be peaches and cream. No, but Jonah’s experience certainly shows us that disobedience is hardly preferable! It is true that going after the Lord Jesus will include difficulty and suffering from time to time. After he was stoned nearly to death at Lystra, he said, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). But such hardship and difficulty is not the same as being pitched overboard into a raging sea for having run away from God! Rather, it comes because of allegiance and love for Christ Jesus and serves to draw us closer to Him (Phil. 3:10 “…that I may share in the fellowship of His suffering”), increase our hope for glory ( 2 Cor. 4:17 “This light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison”), and work righteousness and holiness in us (Hebrews 12:6, 10-11). Therefore, suffering in pursuit of Christ and for His glory is far different and greater than suffering for our rebellion and disobedience to Him.

Will you choose the promise of joy in following Christ (Hebrews 12:1-2), even when it means suffering for His Name’s sake, or the emptiness of the self-authored life? Will you seek the eternal rewards of trusting and obeying Jesus (Matthew 5:11-12; 2 Cor. 4:17), or the momentary satisfaction of “self-determination” and fleeing from God that always lead to gaping un-fulfillment?

For more about suffering and following Christ, I recommend John Piper’s chapter on suffering in Desiring God. It is thoroughly biblical and Christ-honoring, and a huge challenge to most American Christians, including me.

What is the meaning of Colossians 1:24 in real life? Paul wrote, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is the church…” Certainly it does not mean that the Lord’s suffering was somehow lacking or deficient? What then?

Here is an excerpt from Desiring God to draw your interest, I hope—

The Blood Flowed from Our Wounds Like a Fountain There are countless examples in our own day of choosing to suffer for the purpose of Colossians 1:24 -- to complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions by presenting them to others through suffering.12 As I was writing this chapter in late 1995 a missionary letter describing such suffering came to my attention. I quickly E-mailed the missionary in Africa to confirm the facts. He spoke personally with Dansa and got his permission for me to quote this story in Dansa's words from the letter.

Around 1980 there was a time of server persecution from the local officials of the communist government in my area of Wolayta. At the time, I was working in a government office, but I was also serving as the leader of the Christian youth association fro all the churches in my area. THE communist officials repeatedly came to me to ask for my help in teaching the doctrines of the Revolution among the youth. Many other Christians were giving in because the pressure was very great, but I could only say no.

At first, their approach was positive: they offered me promotions and pay increases. But then the imprisonments began. The first two were fairly short. The third time lasted an entire year. During this time communist cadres would regularly come to brainwash the nine of us believers (6 men and 3 women -- one of whom would later become my wife) who were being held together. But when one of the cadres converted to Christ, we were beaten and forced to haul water from long distances and carry heavy stones to clear farm land.

The worst time came during a two week period in which the prison official would wake us early while it was still dark when no one could see and force us to walk on
our bare knees over a distance of up to 1 1/2 kilometers on the gravel road of the town. It would take us about three hours. After the first day, the blood flowed from our wounds like a fountain, but we felt nothing.

On another occasion one particularly brutal prison official forced us to lie on our backs under the blazing sun for six straight hours. I don't know why I said it, but when we finished I told him, " You caused the suns's rays to strike us, but God will strike you." A short time later, the official contracted sever diabeties and died.

When the communist govenemnt fell several years later, the head official invited us back to preach in the jail. At that time, twelve prisoners being held for murder received Christ. We have continued to minister in the prison, and there are now 170 believer s. Most of the prison officials have also beleived.

Only God can sort out all the influences that led to this remakable time of harvest among the prison inmates and officials. But surely it would be naive to think that the suffering of Dansa was not part of the compelling presentation of the reality of Christ in the loves of those who believed.