But God, I Don't Want To! Learning to Say Yes to God When It Doesn't Make Sense.Sampl

Jonah went out of his way to run from God. I laugh, thinking of how many times I've gone and done the opposite of what I knew was correct because I valued my pride more than my obedience to God. Then, Jonah brought other people into his problematic circumstances to make things worse. Have you ever run from your problems and brought someone else down with you? For example, when you're upset with one family member, you call another family member to bring them into it.

Sometimes, we create chaos around us because we refuse to do what doesn't feel good but is good. It's the struggle of putting ourselves first versus laying our desires down to do the right thing.

When I was a kid, my Grammy had a huge oval-shaped pool that made amazing whirlpools. We would all start swimming in the same direction around the pool's rim. As we increased in momentum in the water, my little 40-pound brother would just float circles in his floaties without him doing a thing – even when he didn't want to cruise around without doing anything! There was such a strong current of water that he was just a victim of our aggressive swimming!

In that analogy, as you can see, our decisions can have a whirlpool effect. The stuff we start to stir up and get going with such momentum pulls others along even when they don't want to be a part of it. Before we know it, we've created a strong current of negativity, tension, drama, and division.

Scripture says that God caused this massive storm on the sea that almost broke the ship, yet Jonah went to sleep while the storm was happening. It's like he just didn't care about anything else around him.

We can get so caught up in ourselves that we are oblivious to how our storms affect those around us. Amid our disobedience, we often cause pain to people we love. However, what if we started intentionally staying in God's presence instead of avoiding the hard things? What if that's where the significant growth begins because of our little steps of faith?