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Standing on the dock of the Jaffa fishing harbor near where Jonah may have embarked on his ill-fated journey to Tarshish, I recently felt a strange connection to his story.

Before this moment, I had never been able to emotionally identify with Jonah because I had never seen myself as a reluctant recruit when it came to ministry. But standing on the dock under a full moon in that ancient seaport, the rolling waves before me inviting escape, I felt a moment of connection with what must have driven Jonah’s heart as he sought to flee from his calling.

There are many reasons we run from God’s will. Some of them are spelled out in Jonah’s story, others I have seen in my years of pastoral counseling, and some I have experienced within my own heart.

Death by a Thousand Surrenders

Most Christians recognize the call to follow God and surrender to His will, yet living this out daily proves challenging. These are hard and difficult strides for many, even under the best of circumstances, and our day is far from ordinary. The path of self-denial often is marked not by a single sacrifice but by a thousand small surrenders along the journey. We might need to forsake our comfort and relinquish our desire for control. We might need to face our fears and tread unfamiliar paths. We might need to resist carnal temptations and address trauma that predisposes us to sin.

At the heart of every struggle to embrace God’s will lies a struggle to understand God’s character. Jonah saw God as too merciful. Many today perceive him as too vengeful, judgmental, strict. Yet the only one who ever followed God’s will perfectly – Jesus – related to God as His loving Father. Jesus lived with the knowledge that He was God’s beloved son, that God was pleased with Him, and that He could trust in God’s goodness and love. This confidence in God’s character greatly facilitated Jesus’s ability to align with God’s will.

We Become What We Believe

Reflecting on Jonah’s journey underscores a vital lesson: our understanding of God shapes our response to His call. If Jonah had cultivated a more intimate relationship with God, recognizing Him as compassionate and just, perhaps his story would have unfolded differently. This insight beckons us to deepen our own relationships with God, moving beyond seeing Him merely as a distant authority to embracing him as a loving Father whose plans, though challenging, are rooted in His perfect desire for our welfare.

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Jonah’s story challenges us to reflect on how we view God’s character. It asks us to consider whether we are resisting His guidance out of fear or misunderstanding. By aligning our perception of God with His loving nature, we can change our approach to His calling – from reluctance to eager acceptance, from fear to trust.

Responding to God’s call on our lives may seem perilous, and the outcomes may be uncertain. Yet like Jonah, we are called not just to obey but to trust in God’s great mercy and love. The more we grasp God’s goodness, the less we will be inclined to run from God’s call. We will be content to rest in His ever-loving arms, no matter where they carry us. Remarkably, we will find joy not in the absence of difficulty but in the presence of God, who walks with us every step of the way.

Terry Crist joins James and Betty Robison this Monday on LIFE TODAY. Excerpted from Now You Can Stop Running by Terry Crist. Copyright ©2025 by Terry M. Crist. Published by Zondervan Books. Used by permission.