Acts 3:19
Come with me on a journey. Today we meet the man they call Jonah.
Jonah was one of God's prophets during the period of the Divided Kingdom.
He was God's instrument to carry out God's Will on earth.
He had the great privilege to have been chosen to be God's servant, in bringing God's message of salvation both to his nation of Israel and also to Nineveh.
Jonah was a popular preacher in a prosperous time, yet when he was put to the test of being called to carry out a difficult and unpopular task,
the true spiritual state of his heart was revealed.
God told Jonah to go and warn the wicked and hated city of Nineveh to repent or God would bring judgment and destroy the city.
Jonah was to be a messenger of God's mercy in affording Nineveh the opportunity to turn from their sin unto God.
After receiving God's call to go and preach to Nineveh, he tried to run from his calling and from God.
The true spiritual condition of Jonah's heart is revealed in the actions he took.
Anyone who truly understands who God is and has a proper respect for Him, knows you can not run from God and that obedience to God is always the best course for us.
You would think a prophet of the Lord would know that.
Jonah, probably knew deep in his heart the truth,
but the sin of rebellion makes one irrational.
One might suppose Jonah thought that God might just over look his rebellion.
He would shortly learn the hard way that God cannot be ignored and he cannot be avoided.
Jonah found that he had the necessary money for a fare and a ship ready to take him away.
But it was a waste of money!
He would never get to Tarshish. Those who try to run from God will always find their efforts to be in vain.
Many spend a lifetime, buying passage to the "Tarhishes" of this world, but just like Jonah they will find in time it to be a futile effort.
Although Jonah slept peacefully after the ship had set sail, God was at work sending a great storm which threaten to destroy the vessel.
The magnitude of the storm was so great that all the sailors began to cry out to their gods to help them.
But they cried in vain,
for their gods were only figments of their imaginations.
As sincere as they were, the 1 true God did not hear them.
They simply were not praying to Him.
It would appear that the captain of the ship was a little put off with Jonah in that he was sleeping while the rest of the ship's company were all praying for help.
The sailor's prayers were not being answered,
so in desperation the ship master rudely awakens Jonah and rebukes him for not praying to his God for deliverance.
Side Note:It is always a sharp awakening to be out of your relationship with God and have someone call on us for spiritual help.
The storm was so fierce they perceived that it must be from God.
Seeing that their prayers were not helping, the sailors cast lots to try to determine who it was that had made God so angry.
So they mixed a number of small stones together, as was the custom, and when they cast the lots it fell on Jonah.
They must not have known who Jonah was,
for when the lot fell on him they excitedly inquired of him,
Why this was happening?
What was his occupation?
Where he had come from?
and What was his nationality?
Jonah knew God had caught up with him!
So Jonah fessed up and revealed that he was a Hebrew and a prophet of the true God who made the heavens, sea and land.
He further explained he was running from God.
The sailors then ask a very sensible question, "Why hast thou done this?"
Even they saw it was a most foolish thing to do.
He was being very open with them so they asked him the next logical question,
"What shall we do?"
Up to this point Jonah had acted cowardly, but when confronted by the storm sent by God, and the sailors, he honestly admitted his misdeed and instructed the sailors to throw him over the side of the boat.
God had stopped him dead in his tracks.
Jonah, was the prophet of the Lord, and he did know God.
He had backslid and was out of fellowship, and still God pursued Him.
God was not willing for him to be a castaway.
God was chastening His child that he might be brought to repentance and back to a place of fellowship and service.
The Bible tells us that the great fish that swallowed Jonah was specially prepared of God for the purpose of delivering him from death.
This prayer out of the belly of the whale that Jonah prays reads like one of the Psalms.
It is a poetic prayer of thanksgiving to God for deliverance. It records how Jonah in his time of distress immediately turned back to God.
He was God's prophet, and he knew God personally.
His circumstances,
Which he fully understood,
were the result of his trying to run from God.
Jonah freely admits he is under the perfect hand of God.
Finally, Jonah submits himself humbly to God, seeing the utter foolishness of his rebellion.
Truly this was a most horrible experience.
His heart was gripped with fear as he remembered how the sailors threw him into the raging waters and what appeared to be certain death.
Surely, it was terrifying also, when the waters roared round about him, then to be suddenly swallowed alive by a huge fish.
In desperation Jonah turned to God.
What a shame that God had to go to such drastic measures to bring Jonah (a minister of the Gospel) back to a place of dependence on Him.
But now, as hopeless as his circumstances may have appeared, Jonah was in the best place he could possibly be; under the care and protection of a loving God.
God has many ways to get our attention
Look at the lengths God went through for Jonah.
What is God willing to do?
In this story we see five actions that God uses to awaken us from our spiritual indifference or disobedience.
It is important to remember that these actions by God are intended as correction, not punishment.
Jonah was heading in the wrong direction both physically and spiritually. So God intervened to turn him around.
1. He sends storms into your life – 1:4
The text tells us, "The Lord hurled a violent wind." The Hebrew term translated "hurled" or "flung"
is the same word used when King Saul "cast" the javelin at young David. The word carries the notion of "violent force."
Here we see that the wind and waves served as God's servants to disturb the sleeping prophet.
God often uses the storms of adversity to teach us or to correct us.
This storm illustrated the spiritual struggle of Jonah's heart.
While the rebellious prophet knew what was right, a fierce battle raged in his soul.
Patrick Fairbain wrote, "God's goal in affliction is to awaken."
“Sometimes God has to shake us to awaken us. “Physically and figuratively, this storm was sent for Jonah.
While storms come into our lives for several reasons, we should always ask, "God, what are you trying to tell me through this trial?"
2. He touches someone near you – 1:5
Although Jonah had sinned, "the sailors were afraid."
The late Dr. A.C. Dixon wrote,
"Our sins will certainly get others in trouble."
When the storm came Jonah was about to drown.
But remember, in this situation
"No one drowns alone."
The storms that touched his life, touched the lives of all those around him.
You should consider the answer to this question, "What is God willing to do to bring you back to Him?" The answer is: whatever it takes!
God knows which nerve to touch to get your attention.
And remember: Peace may not come in someone else’s lives until Peace comes into your life.
3. He sends someone to you – 1:6
As the storm raged, "the Captain approached him."
This experienced mariner did not follow the Lord God. Yet God used this unbeliever to correct Jonah.
Dr. James Draper quoted his grandfather preacher as saying,
"God can hit some straight shots with a crooked stick."
The person God uses is not the issue. God can speak to us through a loved one or a stranger, a Christian or a lost person, a child or an adult, a minister or a member.
We see this pattern throughout the Scriptures.
God used young Samuel to speak to Eli,
the witch of Endor to speak to Saul,
a little girl to speak to Peter at the fire, and Paul to speak to Philemon.
What does matter is your response when God speaks to your heart.
We should view that person as God's messenger.
When the Lord sends someone to us we can respond to those messages with anger or humility. But we cannot ignore that God is speaking.
4. He exposes your disobedience – 1:7-8
Out of superstition, the crew cast lots to discover the guilty party and "the lots singled out Jonah."
It is interesting to see that while the unbelieving sailors discerned that the storm represented God's hand against someone on board the vessel [1:7], Jonah did not
5. He touches you physically – 1:15
Once they learned of Jonah's guilt "they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea."
What does this mean for us?
It means that God's hand of protection can become His hand of correction.
Why would God do this?
God loves us too much to allow us to continue on a path of immorality and loss.
So Today as I close I pose the question:
How should we respond to God's loving promptings?
I like how Max Lucado has put it:
He says: "If there are 1,000 steps between you and God, God will take 999 of them and leave the last one for you." God wants you back, but you must take a step toward Him. That step is called repentance.
Some of you have been running from God.
Some of you have been running from his will,
Running from his way
Running from his voice
Running from his laws
And running from his embrace and I have been sent here to tell you that it is time to stop running and come home.
