Stop Running

God will Give us an Assignment that has more to do with others than it has to do with ourselves

Introduction:

Running (developing a love for it)

Goal (run 5k/day)

mind gets clear, often times God speaks to me; I plan; get to read by listening to an audiobook

Why do I run? relaxing feeling after a good run. Often referred to as “runner's high,” the experience is usually attributed to a burst of endorphins released during exercise.

I am running with a goal in mind but research has shown that there are people who use running as a source of therapy

running extremely slow; focused on your breathing; have a therapist with them to talk through some of their problems

This form of therapy is suitable for those suffering from extreme mood swings and/or depressive symptoms

This tells me that a person can be running away from something (hurt, pain, trauma; some interal issue) while running towards something.

And Jonah in our text, is doing just that: He was running away from God while running towards Him.

I feel for Jonah because

The word of the Lord came to Jonah with instructions.

The instructions: Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me (2)

Word of the Lord will come via dream; vision; word of mouth; strong desire/inclination

We will 1 of 2 things- obey him or rebel against Him. More times often than not, we do little to nothing about it or run in the opposite direction

Can we psyhoanalyze why we are running?

not ready; not good enough; I don’t want people seeing me in that role; I don’t think people will buy into it, but if they did, I’d feel much better about it/secure;

trust

perfectionism

But the reality is that God will give us an Assignment that has more to do with others than it has to do with ourselves

But God is so patient, God will wait :)

God’s Patience allows us to choose His permissible will or His perfect will

God waits to see how we will respond.

We will choose 1 of 2 paths: either God’s perfect will or God’s permissible will

Jonah chose God’s permissible will.

Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshsh from the presence of the Lord (3)

went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshsh, paid the fare and went down into to with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord

Twice mentioned: from the presence of God

We can infer that because this phrase is repeated, it means something. God’s permissible will is away from the presence of the Lord. And anything that is away from the presence of God, will cost you.

Jonah paid a fare not just money but almost his very life!

Adam and Eve

Practical examples???

God will hurl a great wind on the sea to move you towards His perfect will

One thing we know for certain, anytime we are operating in the permissible will of God, we are in a state of rebellion

Adam and Eve (allowed Eve to choose to eat from the tree of Knowledge but immediately it put all of humanity into a state of rebellion)

Another Example

1. Jonah chose to run in the opposite direction of the assignment and immediately, it caused a great storm (4)

evidence that he’s in a state of rebellion

rebellion: violent act or open resistance to an established ruler.

It’s the open resistance against the orders of an established authority

Example of child with back turned...

Obedience isn’t sexy, but it’s necessary: story of organization

2. God hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm (4)

storm didn’t just impact him , but also everyone on the boat (5)

sailors are making all these modifications but what they need to do is get rid of the source- Jonah

That’s what we need to do- get rid of the source- the thing that’s causing you to run!

fear (get rid of it; mull over the love of God/perfect love casts out all fear)

pride (counteract it with humility/kindness)

hurt/unforgiveness (forgive: do it for yourself)

God’s Patience points us to His Divine Sovereignty

God released a Word to Jonah and Jonah’s response was to run

Immediately, while Jonah puts himself in a state of rebellion, God activates His patience

In enacting patience, we see God allowing him to pay a fair to head in the opposite direction; we see

He alone allows and disallows

He is the God of the waters, as well as the seas

In the same way how He hurled a storm in Jonah’s day, don’t get it twisted, God will hurl storms in your life

He was the God of Jonah’s storm which means he is the God of your storm

He will find a great fish to incubate him; to hide and shelter him; a place that forces him to get onto his knees and pray

This story hits home to me because I feel like God is calling me to a new assignment; in a new place and I can fight all I want, but God’s patience Will indeed hurl a great wind on the very thing I am putting stock in; on the very thing I have bought into so that it becomes shaky & uncertain just so that I realize that I’m not in alignment with God’s perfect will but with His permissible will. I arrived stood at this prominent institution and said “ok, now what”? And God said, “See yourself as a tool in my hands”

Tools are instruments which means tools have purpose. I am giving you a new assignment; new direction; new focus and you’ve got to give it a new attention.