Running In The Wrong Direction
Several years ago I came across the following observation that is attributed to author Christopher McDougal:
“Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest Lion, or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a Lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest Gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the Lion or a Gazelle. When the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”
I have always found that observation pithy, poignant and pointed. Pithy because it forcibly conveys the unavoidable truth that life requires continual vigilance and diligence; poignant because that vigilance and diligence is required regardless of whether you are the hunter or the hunted; and pointed because it asserts the stubborn fact that everyone reading this blog is running.
Running in this context does not refer to exercise. Instead, it is being employed as a metaphor for strenuous, persistent activity. We have all heard this metaphor used in a variety of very popular phrases. We say someone is “running” a business or “running” after money, or “running behind a man or a woman.” This metaphor is also frequently utilized in song and in scripture to describe the rigors of the Christian life. Growing up in church, I remember the old saints singing a popular hymn: “I’m running for my life, I’m running for my life. If anybody ask you what's the matter with me, tell them I'm saved, sanctified, filled with the Holy Ghost and been baptized, and I got Jesus on my mind, and I'm running for my life!” Turning to the scriptures, you will find the same metaphor scattered throughout its pages:
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1)
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. (1 Corinthians 9:24)
As believers, the issue isn’t whether we are running. The question is whether we are running to God or away from God. In this connection, consider the prophet Jonah. God instructed him to go to the ancient city of Nineveh. His response to this instruction?
“….Jonah ran from the Lord.” (Jonah 1:3)
Jonah ran from his divine assignment. And in doing so, he ran from responsibility, commitment, adventure, and purpose, and almost missed his destiny.
Jonah ran from his divine assignment. And in so doing, he ran into a storm—and almost lost his life.
Jonah ran from his divine assignment. And in so doing, he almost imperiled the divine agenda.
Jonah ran from his divine assignment. And in so doing, he almost ran from everything that makes life worth living.
Here’s today’s question: are you running to God or away from God?
Jonah ran from his divine assignment because he could not understand why God would want to save a city like Nineveh, or a nation like Assyria. But as another prophet reminds us, “God ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:6-7). God’s plan is always better than our plan. However, God’s plan is also usually harder, longer, and terribly inconvenient.
God’s will is usually somewhere near the direction we would prefer not go. But take it as a basic rule of life: running from obstacles, challenges, or difficulties is rarely a good idea. Whether it was Adam running from the voice he heard in Paradise, Elijah running from Jezebel, or Jonah running from Nineveh, running from things rarely results in success. David is the better exemplar. He ran toward Goliath.
And the rest is history.