Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Alex Buabeng-Korsah

TOPIC: RUNNING FROM MERCY

THEME SCRIPTURE: “Arise, go to Nineveh… But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” — Jonah 1:2–3 (ESV)

PREPARATORY QUESTIONS:

1. What would make someone flee when God wants to send him with His mercy?

God sent Jonah to Nineveh, and he was resistant. Jonah’s resistance wasn’t rooted in fear of Assyrian violence; it was rooted in resentment of God’s compassion. He knew the Lord’s character too well. God was “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Jonah 4:2). Jonah didn’t want Nineveh judged with love— he feared they might be met with mercy.

That tension Jonah had also lives in us. We live in a culture quick to cancel, slow to forgive. Social media rewards outrage, not repentance. Jonah’s struggle feels modern: we want accountability for them, grace for us.

After receiving God’s call, Jonah fled in the opposite direction. Scripture emphasizes the descent: down to Joppa, down into the ship, down into sleep. Sin or disobedience often moves downward before it moves outward. As Augustine warned, “The soul that turns away from God turns toward nothingness.” Jonah’s sleep wasn’t peaceful; it was avoidance.

God sent a storm— not to punish Jonah, but to pursue him. The sailors panicked, prayed, and sacrificed cargo, while God’s prophet slept. Ironically, pagan sailors acted with more spiritual urgency than the man who knew God.

John Chrysostom once observed that God “often uses the ungodly to shame the faithful back to obedience.”

When Jonah was exposed as the cause, he offered himself up. Thrown into the sea, the storm ceased. Even in Jonah’s rebellion, God was working salvation— for the sailors, and eventually for Nineveh.

Gregory the Great wrote, “The storm of temptation reveals whether Christ is asleep in the heart or reigning upon the throne of our hearts.” 

Jonah’s story confronts us with a hard question: are we running from God’s call because it leads us toward people we’d rather avoid?

Key Takeaway

You can’t outrun God’s presence—but you can resist His mercy. Obedience begins when we stop fleeing grace and let it change both them and us.

Precious one, remember this: God’s mercy is not a loophole for injustice; it’s the engine of transformation. If grace could reach Nineveh, it can reach anyone—and that includes those who have wounded us. Pass on God's grace to those undeserving in your life today.

Remain blessed.

FURTHER READING: Jonah 1

Call to Salvation: Today is your day if you have not received salvation by turning over your life to Jesus Christ. Click here to do so.

QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU MEDITATE ON THE WORD

1. Who is your “Nineveh”—a person or group you struggle to extend grace toward?

2. Are there areas where avoidance feels easier than obedience?

3. What “storms” might God be using to redirect your steps?

PRAYER

Lord, search my heart. Expose where resentment has hardened me, and fear has disguised itself as wisdom. Teach me to trust Your mercy—even when it’s given to those I think least deserve it. Align my steps with Your will, not my comfort. In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.

One-Year Bible Reading Plan

Exodus 19-20; Psalm 40