God’s wake up call
Jonah 1:1-2:10
[openiong] A married couple were on vacation and staying overnight at a motel. They had to get up early the next morning to continue their travel, so they called the front desk for a wake up call the next morning.
The front desk called, and the wife got up and began packing everything . She told her husband to get up, but he just lay there. She continued packing , and once again told him to get up.
He still just lay there. Finally she told him, " I am going to take our suitcases to the car, and you had better be up by the time I get back!
She took the suitcases to the car, and started back to the room. She mistakenly went to the room next door, and the door happened to be unlocked. She opened the door and said " I SAID FOR THE LAST TIME, GET UP!
She then realized she was in the wrong room, so she quietly shut the door. The man raised up, rubbed his eyes, and said " Now that is what I call a wake up call.
- In this passage about Jonah, we see that God has given him a command to go to Nineveh, and to preach repentance to the wicked Ninevitres.
Jonah, the prophet, knew that God’s mercy may follow, so he turns down God’s assignment, and heads toward Tarshish instead.
Jonah didn’t realize that you don’t say no to God’s commands.
Jonah went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish, so he paid his fare and got on board.
He was running from the Lord.
How many times do we run from the Lord? How many times do we disobey Him? Before we start judging Joanh, we need to take a look at our own lives.
Jesus commanded us to spread the gospel, but do we ? IF not , we are running from The Lord, and disobeying His commands.
Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, but if we hold grudges, aren’t we guilty of dissobedience?
God told us not to bow down to any graven image, not to have any other God’s besides :Him, but if we put our jobs, or our homes, or even our families before Him, we have broken His command.
Jonah was about to get a wake up call from God.
He boarded the boat, and headed out for Tarshish.The bible tells us that as they were sailing along, the Lord caused a powerful wind to come up, and caused a violent storm .
The ship was about to go under. The sailors were fearful of their lives, so they called on their God’s for help.
Their God’s didn’t hear, or answer.
Just like when Elijah told the prophets of Baal to call on their God’s to bring down fire on the altar that they had built. They didn’t get an answer either.
Elijah asked them, "perhaps your God is asleep, maybe he has gone to relieve himself.
Our God never sleeps, He is always awake, just waiting to hear from us. We have an awesome God.
The sailors then threw the cargo overboard to lighten the load.This didn’t help , so the captain went down to wake Jonah up. Jonah was asleep while all of this was going on.
They began asking Jonah questions, and he told them that he was running from his God.
He told them to throw him in the sea, and all would be okay.
The sailors tried to row the boat ashore, but it was no use. They cried out to Jonah’s God, " Oh Lord, please don’t make us pay for what Jonah has done.
Then the sailors picked Jonah up , and threw him overboard, and the storm ceased.
The bible tells us that the sailors were awestruck by God’s great power.
I too am in awe of almighty God. Out God is an awesome God.
He speaks, and the elements listen, He spoke the world into existance. My God is a great big God, and yet He wants to have a relationship with you and me.
Like David said, "Who am I Lord, that you have brought me this far.
Who am I Lord, that you should love me so much, that you would die for me?
The Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah.
This was God’s wake up call.
Sometimes God gives us a wake up call.
Sometimes He has to shake us a little.
Sometimes He has to give us a nudge, to get us back on track.
Sometimes He tells us to get out of our comfort zone.
Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for 3 days.
This was God’s wake up call, but Jonah did the right thing this time.
He cried out to The Lord
Jonah 2:1-2
Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly, [2] And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
He cried out, and God heard him.
He hears us too, when we cry out to Him.
Sometimes we need to cry out to Him.
God loves us , and wants to hear from us. Just like we love our children , and want to hear from them. Sometimes when our children disobey, we have to give them a wake up call.
God disciplines those that He loves.
The Lord heard Jonah’s prayer, and caused the great fish to vomit Jonah up on dry land.
This time, Jonah obeyed the Lord, and went to Nineveh and preached God’s message.
Aren’t you glad that we serve a God who gives second and third chances?
Aren’t you glad our God is full of mercy and compassion?
God will never ask us to do anything , unless He is willing to enpower us to do it.
God will not give us a command, and then say " your on your own.
Even though we fail Him sometimes, God is faithful to forgive, and help us get back on track.
Because Jonah obeyed, The people of Nineveh believed, and repented.
God saw that they had repented, and He stopped the disaster that He had told them He would bring unless they repented.
(conclusion)
ALWAYS PRAY AND DON’T GIVE UP
Jesus taught that we should “always pray and not give up”
· Not because God is hard of hearing
· Not because God needs to be pestered into answering
our requests
· Not because God doesn’t want to answer us
NO… Jesus taught us always pray and not give up because, when we pray, our prayers carry weight. EVERY TIME you and I pray we unleash more and more power from the throne of God
Without time for prayer, nothing can be accomplished. - Scroggie
- He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day. - John Bunyan
- When asked how much time he spent in prayer, George Mueller’s reply was, “Hours every day. But I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk and when I lie down and when I arise. And the answers are always coming.” - Anon
- “If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith.” - Martin Luther
- “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.” -
Sometimes God gives us a wakeup call, we need to know that He is listening and waiting to hear from us, wanting us to get back on track.
He loves us, and wants the best for us.
