Don’t go to Tarshish

Trust Maanda
Looking at the unseen
JONAH 1:1-3 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, [2] Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. [3] But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Jonah was explicitly told to go to Nineveh and cry against it. He was told to go and point out the wrong the people were doing in that city. It was a great city. He had to cry out against everything that was down there; cry out against the city, cry out against their work, cry out against their church, cry out against their prophets, cry out against their ministers, cry out against their priests. “Cry against it, the whole thing! Cry out against it!”
Jonah did not want the responsibility to rebuke the city. He did not want to be unfashionable. He did not want to be seen to be against the trend of the people of that city. He was afraid he would lose his prestige and standing in the society. He was trying to shirk responsibility.
He decided to go the easy way: Tarshish. When Jonah finally went to Nineveh and cried against it, Nineveh was saved!
We have many easy ways to go, ships going down to Tarshish, for it is easy, without any responsibilities. It is easy to go with the crowd, where everybody likes and pats you on the back.
You want it when everyone agrees with you and nobody disagrees with you. This is where peer pressure starts from.
Every girl is having casual sex, and you want to have it because you feel left out.
Every boy abuses drugs, and you feel pressured to do it too because you want to be acceptable. Instead of rebuking it and be different, you want to go with the crowd. You are a Jonah on the way to Tarshish. Actually, decent-thinking people will think more of you if you will stand for your conviction of what is right.
Preachers sometimes shirk responsibility of standing for the true Word of God. They find it easy not to stand with the sound doctrine of the Word in order for them to remain acceptable in their denomination.
They run away from calling a spade a spade for fear that their greatest tithe payer will migrate from their church. They shin to declare the whole counsel. Paul says in Acts 20:27: “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the whole counsel of God.”
He was not a Jonah. He declared the whole counsel of God, the palatable and the unpalatable.
Everything is a responsibility. When you chose your wife or husband, to get married, you had to take responsibility. It is a responsibility to raise and correct children.
It is not enjoyable to do that, but as a parent, you have got to face the responsibility of raising that child, because the Bible says: “Spare the rod and you will spoil your son.”
Proverbs 13:24 says: “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”
Marriage is a responsibility, in all manners. Some people divorce just because they do not want to face up to the challenges. Some even commit suicide because they cannot face challenges life throws at them.
At work, you have a responsibility to do your tasks, whether the boss sees you or not. At school, you have a responsibility to study, whether others do it or not.
If you are the boss at work, you have the responsibility to take unpopular decisions.
A doctor does not have to look at the wincing of the patient when he or she carries out an operation on the patient.
A physiotherapist must not listen to the whining of his or her patient in a physio session. It is bitter in the process, but it produces good results in the end. Hebrews 12:11 says: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”
Moses tried to wriggle his way out at the burning bush. He gave lots of excuses. But God sent him, and he accepted in the end, and brought Israel out of bondage.
Jesus in Gathsemane, wanted to evade the cross and wanted the cup to pass. He said if the cup would not pass unless He drank it, then He would drink it. He drank it and that brought us salvation.
Do not go down the easy route.
Trust Maanda is a gospel preacher and transformational speaker. He writes in his personal capacity. He can be contacted on +263772432646.