Jonah-itis

• Do you have a bad case of digging your heels into the ground?
• Do you mutter "No, God, you have got to be kidding me?" several times a day?
• Have you tried reasoning with God?
• Have you made a list of pros and cons of something He's asked you to do?
• Have you ever reminded God that you've already had this conversation and your answer hasn't changed?
• Have you ever thought about how patient and long-suffering God is when you realize if your children talked to you the way you talk to God they would have been disciplined a long time ago?

If you have experienced one or more of these symptoms you have suffered from Jonah-itis. Remember the fool who thought he could get out of doing what God had planned for him? Remember the one that still didn't get the memo after a raging storm stopped the instant his feet hit the water? And the same one that was still complaining after a large aquatic mammal spit him out of his gullet?

What is the cure? Read Jeremiah 29:11 and bend your knees clear to the floor in a consistent basis for days on end. Die to self and know that He has you in the palm of His hand. Wake up, realize it wasn't a bad dream and do it all over again. Repeat.

God gently chuckles and tousles your hair and says "Come along, my dear one, this is no longer a topic of discussion. It is now a topic of action. Move it from your Things-I'm-Not-Interested-in-Doing-Right-Now-Or-Maybe-Ever list to your To-Do list."

Jonah-itis is painful. Heartaches and dropped dreams painful. And messy. Snot and tears messy.