Seeking Rest: Recklessness

One of the primary reasons why I chose to begin studying Biblical rest comes from my own personal struggle with it, especially due to the events of last semester. I have always struggled with the idea of rest, and I’ve learned that a lot of this is primarily due to my workaholic nature. I strive to do my best in any task I undertake, and as a student genuinely have a love for what I am studying, but these characteristics can also manifest themselves in unhealthy ways. This love for my classes and my work ethic has made me prideful as I go through my education, causing me to believe that I am able to/am expected to do it all in my own ability. Unfortunately, this has taught me to see the idea of seeking rest as a weakness, believing that if I choose to take a day off to take care of my body and my relationship with God, I have failed to meet some mysteriously sourced standard.

This has recently manifested itself in my tendency to fill my life with anything else other than rest. Sometimes, it looks like using music to keep a constant noise in my mind to prevent the silence I need from creeping in. Other times, it looks like going on a drive to some new adventure, when in reality I am not driving to a destination, but away from what I know is good for my soul.

Even if you may not relate to these specific struggles of mine, I do believe that we can all understand to some extent this idea from running from rest in an effort to prove ourselves. Maybe you are trying to show yourself that you are capable despite your self-doubts, maybe there are people in your life that don’t believe you have what it takes and you want to prove them wrong, or maybe you even want to prove to God that you don’t need Him. In some way, this hustle-obsessed culture has rooted us in pride that makes us feel as if we have to do everything in our own strength, and reach wondrous feats through nothing but sleepless nights and countless cups of coffee. Interestingly enough, one character in the Bible is known for how he runs from what God has planned for him, so I want to dive into the story of Jonah today, and get a deeper understanding of what this recklessness does to our relationship with Christ.

Understanding Jonah

While rereading the book of Jonah, I was shocked to see how straight to the point this book begins. It opens up immediately with God’s command for him to go to Nineveh, and by the end of verse 3, Jonah is already on a ship to Tarshish, a city in the complete opposite direction. I find it interesting that we have so little detail, but I imagine that details would only take away from the central idea. The author simply wants to open up this story by clearly focusing on two facts: 1.) that God gave Jonah a command and 2.) that Jonah disobeyed this command and ran. Without hesitation, Jonah paid the fee to hop on a ship to get as far from this “wicked” city as he could.

Let me even mention that while reading, I was curious where the cities of Nineveh and Tarshish are, and was honestly shocked when I looked into some maps. Nineveh resides about 500 miles from Joppa, where Jonah began this story, located in the Middle East. However, Tarshish lands a whopping 2,600 miles away from Joppa in the opposite direction, in present-day Spain. This detail offers proof that Jonah wasn’t simply getting off at a different train stop, but intentionally inconveniencing himself to get as far away from God’s command as he could. In fact, the language in verse three says that “Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord”. This was an intentional and calculated move made by Jonah in order to disobey out of fear and pride.

Once Jonah boards the ship to Tarshish, God sends out a great wind that causes a massive storm. The boat crew is panicked and struggling to stay aboard, meanwhile Jonah is sound asleep, seemingly unbothered by this decision he made. So far, we see Jonah filled with apathy, in a way that brings danger to all those around him. The decisions he made were not only affecting his own life, but were bringing harm to so many others. This storm was sent by God for him, but in the process it caused pain and fear for those that he chose to go alongside. In addition, it caused harm to those in Nineveh that were in desperate need of truth.

Now, this is where people often claim that Nineveh is fine, because Jonah went there anyways, and countless people came to know God. By claiming this, you disregard the fact that disobedience delays deliverance. This time span that Jonah spent on the way to Tarshish and in the belly of the fish may not mean much to you, but to those in Nineveh, Jonah was actively hurting them by putting off his actions that could have brought them great peace. Jonah’s pride in believing that his plan of running away was greater than God’s plan of going to seemingly “dangerous” people actively caused hurt to others.

Running from Rest

Reading all of this, it may seem that there isn’t much connection between what this series has discussed so far and Jonah’s story, but in reality, they both boil down to the same idea. In every circumstance, we are faced with two options: to trust in God’s plan, or to run and create our own. Jonah and I both have chosen to run, actively aware of the decisions we are making yet unwilling to lay down our pride and trust Him.

I know full well when I am running away from rest. When I get in my car before the sun rises, I do it knowing that I can escape and go the opposite direction from what God wants from me. When I put music in my earbuds, it is done to drown out the voice of God urging me to rest. I hate admitting these things, but I know that I can’t be the only one that has experienced this. We all have something we run from, either out of a fear of what we are called to do, or out of pride where we believe our plan is better. Maybe you even run because of both. And it may seem silly to you that I run from rest, but it is beyond easy to get sucked into this worldly culture of working until you drop, and romanticizing studying until burnout. This is why rest, in a true, Biblical fashion, is a self-sacrifice, even though it may feel like it should be easy. When we spend time in God’s word, take care of our body, and put the to-do list away, we are actively protesting against the world’s priorities and buying into the Lord’s kingdom instead.