“Now the Word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it: for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD” (Jonah 1:1-3).

Long ago one of the LORD’s prophets rebelled against God and tried to outrun Him. Without being harsh in self-righteous judgment of Jonah, we learn a valuable lesson from this Old Testament preacher. The great lesson is this. When a believer tries to flee from the will of God, it is all downhill from there.

Let me share with you what I mean. Listen to the descriptive language of Jonah’s flight downward.
First, he tries to flee from God’s presence and goes down to Joppa (Jonah 1:3a). Second, he finds a ship heading in the opposite direction of Nineveh, pays the fare and goes down into it (Jonah 1:3b). It doesn’t stop there. Third, he goes down into one of the compartments of the ship (Jonah 1:5). Fourth, as a result of defiant disobedience, he goes down into the sea (Jonah 2:6).

This truth is inescapable. Running from God’s will and defiantly disobeying His Word only results in life going downhill. We also need to learn the lesson that our God is awesome in His forgiveness and grace. As He brought Jonah to dry land eventually, He can work out the details of your life as well.

So there we have it. It is not only wise to obey the Lord; ultimately, it is a lot easier. You’ll save yourself many downhill experiences when you surrender and obey Him.