Former Blackout Artist

But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. – Jonah 1:3

There’s a lesson in Jonah’s first step away from the will of God that we would do well to take note of. When he boarded the ship headed for Tarshish, “he paid the fare.” That’s an interesting detail, isn’t it? Jonah paid for his ticket, thinking that he was buying freedom. However, the reality is that he was just financing his own misery!

That’s how sin works. It always promises more than it delivers. It tells us that we’ll be happier if we take matters into our own hands and ignore God’s voice, just this once. But sin never advertises the hidden costs, does it. It doesn’t tell you about the loss of peace, or the heaviness of a guilty conscience, or the strained relationships it causes, or the spiritual drought that follows. It never, not once! mentions the sleepless nights or the distance we begin to feel between ourselves and God.

Loved ones, obedience may feel costly in the moment, but disobedience is always more expensive. God’s commands are never meant to rob us of joy, but to actually lead us into it. Every time we resist Him, we trade something infinitely valuable for something that never satisfies us.

You might not be boarding a literal ship today, but perhaps you’ve already purchased your own “ticket” to Tarshish. Maybe God’s pointing something out to you that you don’t want to deal with, or maybe what you have going on is more important than His plan for you. Whatever it is – the fare may seem small today, but the destination will cost you more than you ever intended to pay.

But here’s the good news! Jonah’s story ultimately isn’t about a runaway prophet who gets swallowed by a huge fish. It’s about a pursuing God who loves us too much to let us run away forever. Even in Jonah’s rebellion, the Lord refused to let him go. The storm was evidence that God loved Jonah too much to leave him where he was, and He loved the people of Nineveh too much to not warn them about His coming judgment on them.

What are you willing to pay in order to avoid saying “yes” to God?

The greatest cost in your life isn’t what obedience requires, but what disobedience is already costing you.