Complacency

Jonah 1:1-3 The word of the LORD came to Jonah, son of Amittai:  Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it; for their wickedness has come before me.  But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish, away from the Lord.  He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and went down in it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the LORD. 

Jonah is told by the Lord to do His work and Jonah jumps on the fastest ship he can find and races away from God’s desires.  It doesn’t go well being disobedient though and he finds himself thrown overboard by the crew, only to be swallowed by a fish.  For three days he suffers in the belly of the fish, only to find himself cast back to his original starting point.  Jonah has gotten the message, do God’s work.

Jonah lives a comfortable life and is told to do something uncomfortable, threaten 120,000 Ninevites with God’s wrath.  Where Jonah is directly disobedient, being complacent in life to God’s wants for us is similar.

I know I can get complacent with my love of God.  I get comfortable with my surroundings and don’t push myself in directions I think I’m being lead.  Sometimes, I even run like Jonah from the rightly thing to do.

There is something to be said about being in a good spot.  Soak in the rays and enjoy yourself.  There’s also a word of caution I’d like to input when it comes to sitting still and being complacent about the important things in life.

We shouldn’t be complacent with our spouse, our children, our health or our relationships, to name a few.  We can enjoy these things, but we can’t take them for granted.  For instance, my wife, bless her soul, does much of the housework.  While I appreciate this work and know she works hard, it doesn’t mean I can throw my clothes on the bathroom floor, knowing she’ll pick them up.  I can’t leave dishes on the table, knowing she’ll clean them up.  I can’t get complacent with her and her work or else I mind one day wake up only to find a dish shoved up my nose.

When it comes to God and my relationship, I have to continue to praise him.  I can’t take for granted that things are going well and therefore not do my prayers.  If I take Him for granted, I just mind find myself in the belly of a fish, making it abundantly clear after the turmoil, that I should have heeded His message.