1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ² “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” – Jonah 1

The running joke in our house is that I cannot find anything. I call it a running joke, but if you asked Elizabeth she might say it is a pet peeve (especially when it involves finding something in the fridge). I have come to learn that if I need help finding something I better ask while she is up and moving. It is unscrupulous to ask  someone to get up from their comfy position to help find something that more than likely is in plain site. I am sure many spouses or partners can relate to this position.

Our introduction to Jonah is abrupt. We have no idea what Jonah was doing when the “Word of the Lord” came to him.  Was he comfortable? Was he in the middle of something important? We do not know. All we know is that the Word of the Lord came to Jonah. If I had to guess, I would say Jonah probably was not already on his way to Nineveh (we know that because he fled). This call to Jonah was inconvenient.

How often is God’s call in your life inconvenient? Assuming God’s call is in line with scripture, I am guessing nearly 100% of the time it is inconvenient. It is generally inconvenient to serve at food pantry. It is generally inconvenient to walk to your neighbors house with a fresh batch of cookies. It is generally inconvenient to tell your best friend they are living a life that God misses their company at church. It is generally inconvenient to punish your children for living a life outside of God’s morality.

Following God is not convenient. During this book study, we will see how Jonah reacted to such an inconvenient call. My prayer is that God uses a great fish to force us to answer the call He has placed in our life.