Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” 

                                                                                                                   Jonah 3:1-2 

Jonah has run from the presence of the Lord, been tossed overboard into a raging sea (at his own request), been rescued by God, and has prayed inside the belly of a great fish for three days before ultimately finding himself on dry land. And after all of this, what was the status of his calling from God? It remained. God is still calling Jonah to, “Arise and go to Nineveh.” The only difference is that, this time, Jonah actually moves in the direction of obedience.

When I read about God’s calling on the life of Jonah and how Jonah moved in the opposite direction of that call, I cannot help but think of another man called of God who did the very same thing. He was a disciple of Jesus and his name was Peter. When given the opportunity to stand for the name of Jesus, consider Peter’s choice to move in the opposite direction: 

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.”  

When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.”  

A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed.  

And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

                                                                                                            Matthew 26:69-75 

Three times Peter was faced with the prospect of representing Christ and three times he failed. This mighty man of God, who swore that he would never disown Jesus (Matthew 26:35), did just that.

Although we do have our bright moments, seldom do we flawlessly carry out God’s calling on our lives. I am thankful that it is in those times of failure that we see the grace, mercy, and power of God displayed. When we choose to run in the opposite direction from the course for which God would have us walk, we are the one’s who miss out on blessings. Nineveh will still be saved, others will still testify for Jesus, and the work of the kingdom will continue, but when we fail to “arise and go”, we miss out on the blessing of participating in the process.

Just as Jonah’s running was met with a second calling from God, so Peter’s denials were met with a reinstatement from Jesus. Consider the following dialogue between Christ and Peter:

So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.”  

He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”  

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

                                                                                                            John 21:15-17

The call for Peter to serve in the first century church still remained. I do not believe that it is a coincidence that Jesus asked about Peter’s loyalty the same number of times in which he had denied the Lord. I believe that this was necessary for Peter to fully understand the love that Christ had for him and for him to be able to successfully fulfill the ministry for which he had been called.

So where does that leave us? Understanding God’s response to Jonah and Christ’s response to Peter, we can grasp the concept that failing to flawlessly carry out our calling does not necessarily revoke that calling. In fact, in the two accounts, we observe just the opposite. Jonah becomes the great messenger through which Nineveh finds repentance and Peter remains one of the inner three disciples, fulfilling his calling as “the rock.”

Three questions:

Do we know to what God has called us?

Are we moving toward or away from that calling?

When we fail, do we quit or do we trust God enough to bring us back into service?

Here’s to living our lives for the kingdom of God!