When God Hides the Exit Sign

By Kelly Cilano

Have you ever wondered why some people can always find a reason to quit?

Where do they find that window to put in their resignation?

Not that I don’t envy them, but every time I have tried that, the window seems to disappear.  When I set my heart on it, it almost seems as if God Himself closes those blinds, and the window itself becomes part of the wall. What I thought I saw was not really there at all.

Has that ever happened to you? It happened to a few people in the Bible. Jonah, for one.

Now, most people like to point out that Jonah was a selfish crybaby and a spoiled little prophet. Yet I don’t hear God saying that. He understood Jonah’s hatred for the Ninevites.

They were the enemies of God and of Israel. They were known for their sadistic, murderous ways. The Ninevites were uncommonly cruel and, yes, evil. They tortured people like a cat does its prey. These people were very easy to hate. 

Hatred. Not a nice emotion, but it’s not as uncommon of one as you would like to think.

It certainly is not a foreign one, not even to you or me. I’m writing to the choir on this one.

I didn’t think I could really hate someone. I’m not one who holds grudges because I’m basically lazy, and holding a grudge takes an awful lot of work.

Yet I can I can see it after a while, especially when we are talking about the big stuff: wiping out families, maiming for life, leaving folks for dead, or penniless, or all the above and more.

Even the small stuff, repeated often enough, can carve out a special ugly place in your heart.

Yes, hatred does occur, and it feels right when you feel justified about it.

After all, you didn’t ask for this, and they deserve it. Hell is just where they belong, right?

Don’t tell me you haven’t ever hated because that would be lying, and let’s face it: you can’t even begin to have a “good enough” reason like Jonah had.

Now, he really did have a good reason, right? Even God didn’t say his reason wasn’t good.

God told Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah went the other way.

But Jonah couldn’t regard obedience as an option, and neither can you.

God told Jonah to go. Jonah’s feelings weren’t important. Jonah’s reasons weren’t important.

Or were they?

Does God just expect us to be obedient robots regardless of our life experiences and where they leave us? Well, yes and no.

Why did God choose Jonah to go to the Ninevites? Just for the benefit of the Ninevites’ souls?

It was certainly to benefit their souls, but they weren’t the only souls God was concerned about.   Jonah needed a little soul saving himself.

Perhaps that hatred had moved in under the pretense of self-justification, or of a reasonable reaction, or maybe even of self-defense. Maybe Jonah had a history with the Ninevites like a holocaust victim has with Nazi Germany. Maybe he just plain needed revival.

Sound familiar? No, I didn’t think so.

Jonah didn’t even realize how much his sin was affecting him, but God did, and that is why He chose Jonah to preach to the Ninevites in the first place.

Jonah may have been the Old Testament Saul who needed to be turned into a Paul.

Do you think God was trying to do something new in his life, just like he was trying to do something new in the Ninevites?

We don’t see what Jonah does with the revelation God gives him. But we do see him fighting God, digging in his heels, crossing his arms and basically holding his breath.

“I am angry even to death.” Sounds like a serious pity party to me.

But, honestly, don’t tell me that you haven’t been there… unless, of course, you just got saved ten minutes ago.

There have been plenty of times when according to the circumstances I was absolutely certain that I was right. And sure enough, I was… but I wasn’t. Just like Jonah.

Paul’s conversion was similar, remember? Jesus had to knock him off his horse and, like Jonah, put his lights out. Paul was three days without sight, and I dare say the inside of a whale’s belly doesn’t get much sun, either.

The point is this: God is interested in your obedience – not because He is a control freak, but because disobedience lands you in the camp of sin, and you only die in that camp.

God is love and life. Not the love and life that the world offers – that shallow stuff that relies on circumstance – but real love that is strong, faithful and persistent.

It is a love that shines through someone’s life and is evident in their countenance, their speech, and their actions. It is different kind of love. It is love that is undeniable. 

Jonah did preach. He was obedient at last, God’s purpose was served, and a nation was saved.  We don’t know what Jonah did over the long haul. But we do know that God took the time to work with him, and we do know for certain that God took away his exit sign.

Jonah had every intention of quitting. He had a right, but his right was wrong.

How about you? Been looking for an exit sign? Is God asking for the impossible?

Think again about that exit. I’m glad I did.