{"id":4483,"date":"2021-09-20T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=4483"},"modified":"2021-09-06T12:49:50","modified_gmt":"2021-09-06T17:49:50","slug":"why-running-away-from-god-will-make-you-realize-you-cant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2021\/09\/20\/why-running-away-from-god-will-make-you-realize-you-cant\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Running Away From God Will Make You Realize You Can&#8217;t"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>2 minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9.20-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4484\" width=\"334\" height=\"251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9.20-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9.20-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9.20-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9.20-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/9.20-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 334px) 100vw, 334px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Daily Reading: <\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Psalm%20107&amp;version=GW\">Psalms 107 GW<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Jonah%201&amp;version=GW\">Jonah 1 GW<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Philippians%202&amp;version=GW\">Philippians 2 GW<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Running is fruitless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jonah tried to run from God.\u00a0 His divine task wasn\u2019t a pleasant one.\u00a0 God wanted Jonah to go to Ninevah and declare judgment on them.\u00a0 Jonah didn\u2019t want to obey, so he headed to the local docks and boarded a ship heading in the other direction.\u00a0 God stirred up the seas, which caused the sailors to throw Jonah overboard.\u00a0 A fish swallowed Jonah.\u00a0 From the midst of the belly of the beast, Jonah cries out to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cI called to the Lord in my distress, and he answered me. From the depths of my watery grave I cried for help, and you heard my cry.\u201d (<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Jonah%202&amp;version=GW\"><em>Jonah 2:1 GW<\/em><\/a><em>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jonah learned what we all know eventually, you can\u2019t run from God.&nbsp; In a recent writing class on grief, the facilitator talked about running towards your pain.&nbsp; I realized I\u2019d spent my life running from the painful moments in my life.&nbsp; But in reality, God wants us to bring our hurts to Him so He can make beauty from ashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Turn back to God.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just like Jonah cried to God in his desperation, we can do the same.&nbsp; God wants us to turn to Him in the midst of our heartache.&nbsp; When we cry, God cries.&nbsp; The shortest verse in the Bible is <em>\u201cJesus wept\u201d <\/em>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John%2011%3A35&amp;version=NIV\">John 11:35 NIV<\/a>)&nbsp; Why was Jesus crying?&nbsp; Because Lazarus died.&nbsp; Even though God knew Lazarus was a miracle waiting to happen, He still felt the human pain of the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Life is painful. Broken relationships, loss of loved ones, children leaving the nest, all of these things are painful.&nbsp; When my summer women\u2019s Bible study ended, I felt pain because the season ended.&nbsp; From big hurts to small, life is full of bruises and breaks to the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But when we cry to God in our distress, He is waiting.&nbsp; Just like He rescued Jonah from the whale, God will save you from your beast. &nbsp; Turn to Him.&nbsp; God\u2019s waiting to comfort you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4819\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bookcover-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Three-Word-Prayers-Everyday-Living-ebook\/dp\/B09JT3B6CW\/ref=sr_1_2?crid=18UKNZFIIDIEA&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=three+word+prayers&amp;qid=1635775169&amp;sprefix=three+word+prayers%2Caps%2C69&amp;sr=8-2\">Check out my new release on Amazon<\/a>. Learn how I used prayer to control my emotions and develop healthier relationships in my life. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Lord, thank You for never giving up on us.&nbsp; Forgive us for trying to run from You.&nbsp; Help us process the pain we feel in our lives.&nbsp; Instead of running, let us turn to You.&nbsp; Heal our hurts, Lord, mend our broken hearts.&nbsp; Help us to live life fully in You.&nbsp; In You, we find life eternal.&nbsp; IJNIP.&nbsp; Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Question for reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">How\u2019s your relationship with God today?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2 minute read. Daily Reading: &nbsp;Psalms 107 GW; Jonah 1 GW; Philippians 2 GW Running is fruitless. Jonah tried to run from God.\u00a0 His divine task wasn\u2019t a pleasant one.\u00a0 God wanted Jonah to go to Ninevah and declare judgment on them.\u00a0 Jonah didn\u2019t want to obey, so he headed to the local docks and&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2021\/09\/20\/why-running-away-from-god-will-make-you-realize-you-cant\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Why Running Away From God Will Make You Realize You Can&#8217;t<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4483"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4488,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4483\/revisions\/4488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}