Date: 22-09-24
Preacher: Mrs Dorothy Kao
Title: Jonah Who Flees the Battle

Jonah Who Flees the Battle

I guess when a person has served God for much of her life, the testimonies that spring forth from her mouth need not be fire and brimstones but even a subtle reference is enough to put a burden in the hearts of the congregation to want to bring glory to God. Such is the power of God’s anointing on Mrs Kao and such is the power of God’s love for her.

This morning’s biblical reference is from Jonah 1:1-3.

It tells how Jonah tried to flee from God’s command to go to Nineveh to preach against its wickedness but Jonah refused. In Jonah’s mind he must have heard much about the evil state of affairs there and whether it was out of fear or he felt that the people of Nineveh didn’t deserve God’s grace, he did not want to obey God’s command. So he thought the best thing to do was to run away and he thought going off to a faraway place by ship would prevent God from reaching out to him.

Mrs Kao delivered 3 pertinent testimonies from her own life that can be garnered from Jonah’s running away. In the first, termed ‘silent protest’, Mrs Kao shared her testimony of how she herself tried running away from God, putting off God’s command for her to attend Bible College. She kept putting it off for 2 years. Then like Jonah who went to the deepest part of the ship to sleep, which she termed ‘sleeping amid a storm’, Mrs Kao recounted how she asked God to show her signs that she should follow His command and each time God actually answered her request. Still she tried to ignore.

In the third testimony which she termed “Jonah offers himself’, she gave a testimony of how her fellow worker in the field refused to divulge her identity and was badly persecuted by being beaten up by the authority. The co-worker shared with her that being physically abused is better than spiritual betrayal.

Where do we stand when we have to take a stand for God?