Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
Exodus 4:13-14 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
Jeremiah 20:7-9 O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
Ezekiel 3:14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me.
Luke 9:62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 9:16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
Have you ever come to a time in your life where you did what you knew the Lord wanted you to do but had bitterness in your heart? Have you ever been led down a path in life by the Lord and then looked back at where you were before and had a want to go back there to easier times? Have you ever felt the nudge of the Lord to clearly do something and said, “please send someone else”? Have you ever just wanted to get away from what the Lord has asked you to do? We read of many great men of God who felt as though they knew better or had enough and they threw up their arms in a full STOP. We know when Jesus is leading us there are power, strength, and courage we get when our eyes are kept focused on Him. It is when our focus is on the situation or our wants more than our want to humbly serve, honor, follow, trust, and obey Jesus Christ.
Not how Jeremiah and Paul put it; “there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in”, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”
