Running Away from God
Running Away from God!
Yesterday was the Feast of Jonah… and today, I would like to share with you some spiritual reflections on the story of Jonah. Whenever one reads Jonah’s story, one finds many things that invite deep contemplation.
The story of the Prophet Jonah is a story of God’s relationship with man. Each time we read it, we are reminded that God still loves mankind and still works for their salvation. God, the loving and compassionate, continues to seek people for their redemption. Yet, despite all this, people keep running away from God.
When we read and meditate on the story of Jonah, we recall humanity’s ingratitude, its distance from God, and its flight from Him. From the very beginning of the story, we encounter the phrase: “But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”
How strange it is to see a human being running away from God — the creature fleeing from the Creator! It is astonishing that a needy human runs away from the One in Whom all human needs are fulfilled. The weak and helpless man runs away from the Almighty and Powerful God!
And even more amazing — that God, Who needs nothing, should be the One pursuing weak mankind!
It may be understandable for someone to flee from danger or evil — but for a person to flee from God, that is truly strange! For God is goodness, love, and holiness. How then can a person flee from these very things which are God Himself?
Yet, such is man — he does not respond to God’s love with love like it. Throughout his life, man proves ungrateful, failing to appreciate the love of the God Who loves him, continually wounding His tender heart. God opens His heart wide, but man turns his face away, indifferent to that open heart!
And still… God continues to open His heart to mankind, while man persists in ingratitude, betrayal, and distance from God — and in fleeing from Him.
Adam was the first to flee from the face of God. Between Adam and God, there had been friendship and love. God would come to him in the garden and speak with him. But in a moment, Adam felt that his relationship with God was no longer the same. He fled from God in fear and shame, saying: “I heard Your voice and I was afraid… so I hid.”
Many people, like Adam, flee from God out of fear and shame because of sin. But this flight does not save them — it only worsens their condition. Sin should not drive us to flee from God; on the contrary, God says: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
We often flee from God out of fear and shame for our sins. Yet the one filled with sins and impurity should not flee from God, but from sin itself! For if he flees from God, he will lose the only means of purification and salvation, and will continue slipping further into ruin until the devil leaves nothing of him.
Whoever flees from God out of fear or shame does not know God’s true nature — full of love and forgiveness — and by fleeing, only makes life more tangled and miserable.
When a person falls into sin, instead of fleeing from God, he should turn to Him, stand before Him, and speak of his fall, his sin, and his shame. Do not flee from God when you sin — stand before Him and speak frankly about your shame. Tell Him that you are afraid. Be like the tax collector who, weighed down by his sins, did not run away but brought all his sins before God. He stood — trembling, ashamed, unable to lift his eyes to heaven — beating his chest and crying out: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
Running away from God is a trick of the devil, meant to worsen the sinner’s state. It is right to feel shame for sin, and to fear God in your heart — but do not flee from Him. The holy fathers, in their shame, used to pray to God with tears and humility, praying in contrition like the prophet Daniel, who said in prayer: “To us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers.” Ezra said the same. Sin does not mean we should flee.
He who flees from sin is like one who has fallen into a pit — and instead of rising, continues to slide deeper and deeper without end. This is the devil’s work: to drive a person into despair. The sinner needs someone to grasp his hand and lift him up, but the “devil of shame” hands him over to the “devil of despair,” who delivers him to the “devil of escape.”
David — though a prophet and king — fell into the sins of adultery and murder. Yet he did not flee from God. Instead, he came before God in his sin and said: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” That was the cry of hope. Though he was in the depth of his sin, David still held onto hope and faith. Losing hope is one of the devil’s tricks to cast a person into despair.
David, even amid his sin, knew how painful it was — yet he neither despaired nor fled from God. He turned to Him and said: “O Lord, rebuke me not in Your anger, neither chasten me in Your hot displeasure. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled, and my soul is greatly troubled.” The devil of despair drives people away from God!
But the children of God do not flee when they fall into sin. Instead, they hasten to Him, seeking mercy, knowing that the gate of heaven is open — for He said, “He who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”
Running away from God out of fear and shame is one kind of escape. Another kind is fleeing from the difficulty of the way!
When Christ spoke about partaking of His Body and Blood, Scripture says, “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.” He even said to the twelve: “Do you also want to go away?” Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
When people find the way difficult, they leave God and turn away — not realizing that, however hard the path may be, the “grace of God” makes it possible. This grace enables us to endure hardship, to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, to seek perfection, to enter by the narrow gate, and to “carry the cross.”
Many flee from Christ’s path because they feel it is too hard — they seek ease, not struggle. But that “difficulty” is often a trick of the devil!
When you find goodness hard, and the world darkens before your eyes, and despair begins to creep in — know that these are the devil’s battles. He always makes the road seem hard before God’s children, to lead them to despair.
Even when God’s commandments seem hard, grace is there to uphold us. “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” If you find yourself surrounded by sin, know that the grace of God surrounds you too — the Holy Spirit is with you, and the power of the Most High overshadows you. God never leaves you alone in your struggle; angels, the spirits of saints, the Holy Spirit, and divine grace are all with you, invisibly helping you.
Therefore, do not fear the difficulty of the path nor despair. The harder the path, the more confident you can be that it is the path of God. If you find life too easy, then you should be cautious — perhaps you are no longer walking in His way.
If the road before you seems hard, take it step by step. The longest journey begins with a single step. That one step is all that God asks. After you take it, He will ask for another — and so on, until you have completed the long, difficult road.
Just take one step. When the path feels long, say to yourself, “Just one step more.” Decide, then act — step by step. Each step you take in God’s way will clothe you with grace, and the Holy Spirit will begin to work in you and through you. Every step will give you warmth, strength, and hope.
Making the road appear hard is one of the devil’s games to drive people away from God.
The role of confessors and spiritual guides is to make the way easier, not harder. Those who complicate the path push people toward despair and escape. Saint John says: “His commandments are not burdensome.” The narrow gate may seem tight at first, but it becomes wide and full of joy. David says: “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” and, “How sweet are Your words to my taste.” He seems to say, “You who flee from God, just try — taste and see!”
The Samaritan woman did not tell people, “Come, believe,” but said, “Come and see.” And when they came and saw, they believed and loved Christ.
Beware of making the path of God difficult. Some think it clever to complicate things, but do not burden people beyond their strength. Take each person according to his ability. The devil makes the path hard — whoever does the same is cooperating with the devil, for hardness of the path makes people flee from God.
Religion must be taken step by step. Some, out of zeal, want to ascend all at once. The monastic fathers say: “If you see a young man climbing to heaven quickly, pull him down — lest he grow weary, despair, and perish.” The devil makes the path too hard, leads man to despair, then turns him backward. As David said in the psalm: “Many are they who say of me, there is no help for him in God.”
A monastic saying goes: “The middle way has saved many.” Extremism, therefore, is one of the devil’s weapons. If the devil wants to make a person fall, he pushes him into extremism, then shows him the path as impossible, then casts him into despair.
The holy fathers call extremism a right-hand blow — just as sin is a left-hand blow. The right-hand blow is a high spiritual trap that one cannot sustain. Thus Scripture says: “Do not be overly righteous” — meaning, beyond your level and capacity. Walk wisely, step by step, in the spiritual way.
A third kind of fleeing from God comes from the self.
Some care too much for themselves — their pride, their dignity — and this stands between them and God. Jonah said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled to Tarshish!”
Often, human self-regard, pride, and ego become the reasons for fleeing from God.
Christianity requires self-denial. Christ said: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.”
Atheists, like the existentialists, say, “The existence of God cancels my existence; therefore, it is better for God not to exist, so that I may exist.” Thus, they flee from God because of their self!
But John the Baptist overcame this problem, saying: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The Psalmist too triumphed, saying: “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your holy name give glory.”
Whoever focuses on self — on status, pride, and self-image — hides God’s face with his self-concern, and thus flees from Him.
Let such people think of themselves in a spiritually sound way, not distortedly. In trying to establish themselves, they lose themselves. Christ said: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Whoever wishes to walk with God must forget himself, deny himself, and think only of God.
A fourth kind of fleeing from God happens because of worldly desires — like the prodigal son, or like Demas, one of Paul’s companions, of whom Paul said: “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.”
There are people who leave God not because there is any fault in Him, but because they love the world more than God. They love worldly pleasures more, and therefore they flee from God.
They flee because they love something else more than Him — and this second love drives out the love of God from their hearts. “The love of the world is enmity with God.” Whoever loves the world loses the love of the Father. When one loves the world, he tries to flee from God, for he cannot love both — God and the world.
Yet the world does not deserve such love. Whoever loves the world becomes a carnal, material man.
My beloved brethren, if we have ever fled from God in the past, let us not flee now or ever again. Let us return to God — He Who seeks us and longs for us. Let us be reconciled with Him, for we cannot live apart from Him!
-
Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in Watani newspaper on February 6, 1972.
- For better translation support, please contact the center.
