Like Jonah? 2

But Jonah rose to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord…Jonah 1:3

The prophet Jonah was told to arise, He did; only to commence his own journey, he obeyed his own mind and flesh and disobeyed God’s instruction. There were two problems here

The first was that He rose from the presence of God:

This meant that He didn’t depart because He rose from a sinful place or from the camp of the enemy; instead, he rose from a beautiful fellowship. this tells exactly, what happens to many of us, we rise from quality devotions, fellowships, saintly meetings, and discernment of the Lord’s voice, but flow freely with our own inclinations, may the Lord help us lest we end up in the belly of the 21st-century fish, which just could be anything, but it’s better to talk it, not to be in it.

The second was that he knew what God wanted Him to do in its simplest detail:

He did the direct opposite of what he had heard; instead of obeying a divine injunction, he obeyed a mere natural feeling and this response was carnal, though he was a spiritual man. Instead of heeding God’s word and be an agent of change, he would heed his senses and satisfy his personal longing and desires. This is the start of man’s problems, we rise from divine instruction, from His presence, his love, and flee to our desires, when we rise from divine care and flee to worldly cares, when despite knowing his will, we flee to a man-made, un-renewed understanding dependent will.

We must be watchful at all times, even after we have had the best interaction with the Spirit of God or from a spiritually refreshing program or retreat, the deceiver lurks around, seeking a weak moment.