“Out of sight… not really!”

Last week I ventured back into a 10’ by 10’ space in my basement that has been built out as a bathroom. I have a sink, a shower, the plumbing for a toilet and nice light fixtures all in place. But for months this space has functioned only as a storage area since there is only subflooring on the ground. While the rest of the basement has been home to countless hours of fun, entertainment and interaction… the bathroom door has remained shut.

Last Saturday that changed.

And as it changed it exposed a frightening tendency.

It’s really, really easy to “flee” unfinished work. There are many reasons why. Some better than others.

The propensity of the human heart to “flee” takes little cultivation.

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. ~ Jonah 1:1-3 (ESV)

Even with a clear and substantial directive and an objective in front of us… we buy a ticket for another land. We close the door on the mess. We escape. We run. We ignore. We rationalize. We duck. We hide.

Call it whatever you want… we’re fleeing.

Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.  ~ Luke 15:13 (ESV)

To a far country. Away from the demands, the pressure, the effort, the evil… just away. Far away.

God’s work and His calling left undone or ignored is not just frustrating… it’s sin. We can’t simply close the bathroom door and hope that nobody will notice. When we willfully elevate our comfort or our priorities above the things of God… then we’ve jumped ship, we’re on our way to Tarshish… we’re down the path to squandering the gifts of God.

Fortunately, God is in the business of not only calling us, but equipping us.

… for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. ~ Philippians 2:13 (ESV)

“To will and to do!”

To call and to complete.

Only God.

Can you picture the bathroom in your own life? Are you avoiding Nineveh? Does a distant land tug you? Get honest and then get right.

Flee no more. Open the bathroom door.