Jonah 1:10 > “Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, What is this that you have done? For the men knew that he fled from being in the presence of the Lord (as His prophet and servant), because he had told them.”

I had just gone to see the new movie: “Thunderbolts”, and the very next morning my Pastor preached a message about Jonah. I was surprised how his message related to the movie! I’m not saying Jonah’s whole story does, but the points my Pastor was making in this particular message did. Starting with his point about, “Don’t let your past mistakes define you. Don’t let your past mistakes convince you that you cannot change and serve the Lord.”

If you’ve seen the movie, you know where I’m going. I’m going to call her Black Widow ll. I’ve shared before how I grew up with a Bible in my right hand and comic books in my left. I didn’t like Archie type comics. It was all superhero. Anyway, Black Widow’s adopted sister, Yelena Belova, (I will call her, Black Widow ll), is reaching the end of her mental rope. She’s becoming a candidate for suicide. Her sister sacrificed her life, helping save the world, her father, the Red Guardian, has never been there for her, and she is realizing her life is nothing but a vicious circle of killing people, then she feels bad about it and drowns her feelings in alcohol, then she tries to throw herself into her work as an assassin, in which she goes out and kills more people and feels bad all over again. Repeat, repeat.

Her life has lost all purpose and meaning. She’s so desperate she even goes to her father, who has never been a good father, hoping against hope, he might have some wise advice. And the only thing I can see that he says is, Your sister, Natasha, finally figured it out. She became good. She became a “hero” and fought to save people, not kill them. However, Black Widow ll struggles with the idea she could ever be a hero, after having done so much bad. And actually, all the Thunderbolts, who are thrown together in the worst of ways, sent to kill each other (LOL), have this same struggle. (Don’t let your past mistakes define you.)

When it comes to Jonah, my Pastor pointed out that he seemed to be ready to end it all. (Just like Black Widow ll was considering.) Consider the clues: He had to be totally exhausted. How do you fall asleep in a storm ready to kill you? In a bouncing boat? We have talked about the perfect storm headed our way. These experienced sailors knew they were about to die! Where is Jonah? Sleeping? (Jesus had perfect peace. Jonah did not.)

It makes me think of Elijah, after he had that great victory over the prophets of Baal. He runs from Jezebel. He is exhausted. He wants to die! He fell asleep. An angel strengthens him and he finally reaches that cave. God asks him what he is doing at this cave? Jonah is exhausted like this too. Elijah thinks he is the only one left and he will soon die. Elijah was depressed! So was Jonah, in a dark place of the soul.

Do we know what hardships had preceded in Jonah’s life? Now God has told him go to Nineveh, but he disobeys, runs, and is on his way to Joppa! He’s exhausted. A perfect storm comes. The men confront him and he does not try to lie his way out of it. They ask what should they do? He tells them to throw him overboard into the raging sea. He did not ask for a life boat or anything. It will be certain death. Is Jonah ready to die? Elijah asked to die. Remember? It does appear when Jonah told them to throw him into the sea, he was ready to die.

We have talked about how God has given us a map that does not change, and how He reveals to us our true north. We are not like the unbelievers whose map is always changing and they struggle to find a true path. Jonah had been told to go to Nineveh. This would have been true north for him, but instead, he chose to run south! He was running from the presence of God and these idol worshipping men asked, What have you done to us? These pagan men understood he was running from the Presence of his God!

You know, the world hates us when we serve God. But they also hate us when we don’t. LOL. As the followers of Christ we have a great purpose in the welfare of our world. Pagans do not give us credit until… until it’s all going to hell in a handbasket and then they remind us we failed to do our job! And they are finally right! They are finally speaking truth.

I know this is a weird message, however, these messed up potential heroes with their particular gifts to offer, can be a pretty good picture of us before getting saved. And like Jonah, or Elijah, we can even find ourself back in that same struggle when we feel overwhelmed in it all. We begin to question everything. We want to run. Maybe we even need to run and find a place to hear the whisper of God again. God provided Elijah a cave. He provided Jonah a whale. (Personally, I’d choose the cave.)

You see, even though Jonah looked at the map and decided to run south, God had a whale prepared, (okay, great fish), who just happened to be going True North! In the storm that is coming, who will prove to be the Whale Riders? Prophets bringing the true Word of God in the midst of all the lies? All lies have an expiration date, and when it comes, those who sought to profit from the lies end up in great sorrow and judgement, just like Cain.

Everyday it seems, we are hearing of another liar being exposed and revealed as the shame they have. They are no hero. They chose to profit from lies. They endangered the whole world. We might yet fail to survive what they started. Just today Biden and his party has been exposed again and again as to how they hoped to take this country to a bad place, and now great judgement is upon them. I do not hate them, but I sure do pity them. The Bidens are the most pitiful of people, and all those who were part of the great lie. By a miracle, their plan failed. But believe me, they came so close! How did we allow it to get so close!

We can’t afford to fail again. If we do not preach to Nineveh we will become Nineveh! Hellywood is still preaching their message! If we are a Christian enchanted with Joppa, we need to take the leap of faith into the raging sea and become the Whale Rider, if we are to have any hope against the next lie they plan. But if we decide being the hero is too hard, then don’t be surprised when you find yourself in a meaningless loop one day, without passion and purpose. You’ve become the living dead. No fire! No Light! No Life! Just boring and meaningless.

But now the Thunderbolts are supposed to be the New Avengers, and everyone, including themselves, question their ability to do that. They don’t have a Thor, or Hulk, or Ironman! Who are they to be the New Avengers? They have many issues! But another world threat will come and if they are ready to be heroes instead of criminals, they cannot be on a boat to Joppa. They made a choice and now that river is pulling them forward into something. That whale is taking them to a true north if they are willing to go forward in hope and faith.

God will always meet us where we are, and He will remind us of where we need to be. He will even help us get there, if we are willing. His True North.