Can we outrun God?

The Lord spoke to Jonah son of Amittai: “Nineveh is a big city. I have heard about the many evil things the people are doing there. So go there and tell them to stop doing such evil things.” But Jonah tried to run away from the Lord. He went to Joppa and found a boat that was going to the faraway city of Tarshish. Jonah paid money for the trip and went on the boat. He wanted to travel with the people on this boat to Tarshish and run away from the Lord. (Jonah 1:1-3)

Is it possible to run from God's calling in your life? Yes! Can you do it with a clear conscience? Nope! The truth of the matter is that we cannot outrun God, nor can we deny his calling in our lives. Those whom he calls are also equipped. The calling may not 'measure up' to what we 'desire' in our lives, such as when Jonah was called to go to an evil city, filled with all manner of sin, to bring them the message of salvation. His desire was likely to see them burn for their sins rather than go right into the midst of their 'filth' and 'depravity'. They were known for their idol worship, depravity, enslaving nations, and plundering the peoples of the land - but God wanted the message of salvation brought into their midst. Can we undo God's will? Nope!

We oftentimes don't understand 'why' God asks us to do what he does, but we should trust he has a bigger plan than we might first imagine possible. A big city - perhaps made 'bigger' in Jonah's eyes because of how depraved they were as a hostile people. Tell them to stop - a hard message to hear when you actually want to make a change in your life, much less when you like the way you have been living! When we are resisting the purposes and plans of God, we will find ourselves struggling with taking the first step of obedience. We might not really want to do what he says, but there is wisdom in taking the first step, even though we don't see the purpose or understand the bigger picture. 

Is it possible to outrun God? Nobody has succeeded yet, so I am pretty sure the answer to that one is 'no'. I had a friend in Bible College that told us of the many months he had tried to outrun God. A drug dealer, dishonest in all his business dealings, and living a hardened life. He recalled how he heard message after message about how he needed to change his life - get right with God and turn away from all the 'bad stuff' he was engaged in. Yet, he ran. While running, he was amazed to see that even the power poles on the side of the road looked like crosses! God won't let us resist forever - he will place reminder after reminder in our path to help us see there is no better way than within his will. Just sayin!