He lost the presence and comfortable enjoyment of God's love. But the moment we start back, and seek our own inventions, we are at sea without a pilot. This is a price too high. Let me return to my allegiance, that I may rejoice in Thy presence. In the next place, Jonah lost all peace of mind.
Sin soon destroys a believer's comfort.
It is the poisonous upas tree, from whose leaves distil deadly drops which destroy the life of joy and peace. Jonah lost everything upon which he might have drawn for comfort in any other case. Christian, do not play the Jonah, unless you wish to have all the waves and the billows rolling over your head. You will find in the long run that it is far harder to shun the work and will of God than to at once yield yourself to it. Jonah lost his time, for he had to go to Tarshish after all.