Addition by subtraction?

A familiar passage hit me in a bit of an unfamiliar way this week.  I’m nearing the end of my Old Testament reading plan for this year and got to journey through Isaiah 7 – 13, Ezekiel 1 – 7, Obadiah 1, Amos 5 – 9, and Jonah 1.  There are some fascinating aspects to these books as you read through the history of Israel and Judah, as well as God’s plan, judgment, grace, and restoration through the eyes of the prophets as God moved them.  During that journey, I was reminded through the first chapter of Jonah about how God carries out his intentions despite the fact that they’re not our intentions.  In other words, sometimes He works through us and sometimes He works around us.  Jonah 1:9-15 will give you a sense of what I mean …

First let me set the stage a bit.  Remember that Jonah was a prophet of God in the southern kingdom of Israel around the time of Amos and Hosea (roughly 800BC).  The kings of that day were evil and the society was pretty disastrous.  Fortunately for a prophet, it was a bit of a target-rich environment.  But like many of us will at times, Jonah didn’t heed God’s call, though it’s clear that he knew what it was.  As we open the book of Jonah, he gets instructions from God to go to Nineveh, a place few really wanted to go.  Instead of following God’s instructions, Jonah goes in pretty much the opposite way.  He boards a ship to Tarshish and things fall apart for him and his shipmates when a huge storm starts up.  The sailors finally figure out that Jonah’s the reason for the melee and we read –

Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”  The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned.  And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”  “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”  Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it.  Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”  Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!

What can you and I take from this?  Plenty.  Realize in this case that Jonah wasn’t the direct recipient of the blessing God intended.  Jonah’s task was to go to Nineveh and convey God’s message.  Other than following God’s instruction (which is sufficient, don’t get me wrong), Jonah wasn’t necessarily the target of God’s actions, the Ninevites were.  God wasn’t necessarily using Jonah for Jonah’s good … admittedly we don’t get to read what ultimately happened to him, so I guess we’ll have to wait until we meet him in person.  I also don’t want to read into the text in any way and presume that the reason Jonah went the other way was because he wasn’t to receive the blessing of God … it was similar, however, in that Jonah did NOT want Nineveh to receive God’s blessing.  He didn’t think they were worthy of it.

The point here is analogous.  Jonah not wanting Nineveh to get God’s forgiveness and blessing is the same as Jonah not getting what he wanted through God’s plan.  I dare say, folks, we can be quite the same way.  Sometimes I think God asks us pretty clearly to do certain things, which we listen to differentially.  That is, we tend to pick and choose the things we agree with and we look the other way for things with which we disagree.  The thing is, our willingness to agree or disagree doesn’t invalidate God’s ability to carry out His intentions.  The question is whether or not they’ll occur with us, or around us.  It’s either addition by addition (God works through our concurrence), or it’s addition by subtraction (God works around our impedance).  Either way, God is not dependent on our cooperation to achieve His ends.

So if God’s ends are accomplished either way, then why does it matter whether it’s by “addition” or “subtraction”?  The distinction comes from the impact on us.  Look what happened to Jonah.  He thought he was in the clear in running away from God.  He probably figured God wouldn’t know … seriously?  His running away not only wasn’t noticed, but it put him and the other folks on the boat in mortal peril.  Eventually, the sailors figured out the situation, and also recognized the God, “sent this storm upon [Jonah] for [God’s] own good reasons.”  God’s plan would not be thwarted … and eventually the message got to Nineveh just as he intended.

The other aspect for our notice is the opportunity we have to exhibit faith when God asks us to do things for which we’re not the beneficiary or with which we don’t agree.  In fact, the strength of our faith can be measured by our willingness to accepts God’s methods and plans even when we’re not the direct beneficiary of them.  Are we willing to go where He wants us to, even if we may get nothing out of it?  Are we willing to follow where He leads when others get the blessing and we don’t?  Are we willing to be obedient to Him when He’s going to care for those we care nothing about?  

Faith that exists only to the point where we’re rewarded is a pretty hollow faith.  The fact that we don’t know what happened to Jonah afterward doesn’t mean he didn’t see the fullness of God’s blessing upon him.  That’s also true for us … we don’t always see the fullness of God’s blessing on us through our circumstances, especially when things go exactly the opposite of our assumptions, expectations or desires.

That’s why it’s called faith.  Faith means following with a fervor even if we fail to receive God’s favor.  In the end, it’s always better to follow God’s instructions.  We’d rather he work by addition than by subtraction, as we learn from Jonah’s example.  And, the opportunity to exhibit faith is an opportunity to grow in faithfulness.

This week, let’s ask God in prayer to help us go where and when He asks us to.  Not just to avoid the potentially painful implications of “addition by subtraction,” but also for the blessing He bestows on those who exhibit faithfulness … even if we don’t see the blessing.

Be blessed,

MR