Following God (2)

I. Background to Jonah

II. God’s Command

III. Jonah’s Response

Today, we continue through the true account of Jonah in the Bible, what have we learned so far. It’s a story that deeply reveals the nature of the human heart, the wickedness of man’s sin, and the terrible consequences of turning your back on God. Yes, this is a very familiar narrative, but it’s an ironic story really, because as familiar as this story is to us, it is connected to the very same, familiar, and true story of our own lives. The constant cycle of allowing ourselves to chose self over God. In trusting our own thoughts, ways, desires over God’s ways and then by extension doubting his commands, his truths, his goodness. “I would never doubt God! Not possible!” Yet, every time we chose to be alittle extra greedy, every time we chose to spend our time wastefully, ever time we share a little white lie, ever time we hear a sermon and do nothing to change, we are in fact doubting God. He has told us what is right, what is true, what is good and not only that, but commands us to do it for our good and His glory. And every time we give excuse for not doing what He says to do, we doubt God. Our church attendance, our evangelism, our disciplemaking, our worship, our devotional life, our prayer life, our service to others, these are all commands God has given, yet we like Jonah turn the complete opposite way. I’ve got too much going on, I don’t have time for those things, I’m too busy with other important things in other words, what God says for me isn’t best. It’s completely illogical just as illogical as it was for Jonah to feel he could flee from God’s presence and find better results in that than doing what God commands. Yes, the book of Jonah reveals the heart of man in every decision we make. When we don’t do God’s will, it reveals a heart of sin. When we do exactly as God has said for us, even when we don’t understand, it reveals a true heart of worship, service, love, and faithfulness to following God. And you know what, these commands to a true follower of God, become non-burdensome.

1 John 5:3 ESV

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

At first, they may feel this way, but as we become more like Christ and as our love for God continues to grow, our appreciation of all that Christ is and has done becomes so immense that we are overjoyed in carrying them out. We have come to trust Him and His commands that they are good and we eagerly fulfill them even though they may appear to be difficult. You can see that played out in the life of Paul and how he made that his life mission. To know Christ and be obedient like Him even in the most difficult assignments.

Philippians 3:10 ESV

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

So the story of Jonah really opens up the pages of the human heart and reveals how evil we can be. It’s a mirror that reflects our own natural tendency to want things that are not from God or to try and turn God into something that we want Him to be. Jonah was fine with God’s will until it came into contention with his own. As long as God’s plan fit with his own narrative, he would oblige God’s commands. But when God’s plans didn’t fit in the patriotic loyal mind of Jonah, he couldn’t or wouldn’t accept God’s commands. See how Jonah allowed God to be fit into his own box, but God will do whatever he wants, and who are we to question his will. Yet, Jonah had fashioned God into what he wanted. Wasn’t willing to really understand all that God is, including that he is a merciful God even to other nations and that he actually has good plans for these nations and not just Israel. That just didn’t fit how Jonah wanted God to be.

The warning is, be careful that we too don’t try to fashion God into what we want Him to be and not what He actually is. How do we avoid this? We do this by careful examination of Scripture and allowing our thoughts to be processed with other godly men and women so they aren’t tainted by our sinful flesh.

Furthermore, the book of Jonah reveals that sin shows no partiality among men. In other words, no man or women, or child is immune to blatant sin because of any sort of social, political, or even religious status. Jonah was God’s prophet. A chosen man, respected and feared by many in Israel. Who should have and would have known the mind and heart of God better than almost everyone in that day? Jonah the prophet right? The man that communicated with God directly. A man who sincerely believed and loved God as he would have said. Yet, who did Jonah love more in the end. Just because Jonah had a special role in God’s plan, did not make him invulnerable to the desires of the flesh. And he fell and fell hard. No person is no pastor is, no deacon is, no church member is, no citizen is immune to the devastating effects of sin. We are all one choice away from sin and open rebellion against God. And that is what sin is. All sin in reality is open rebellion against God, Treason. Chosing to obey and align yourself with the Kingdom of self rather than the kingdom of God. But that has it’s consequences and effects as we began to talk about last week. Sin is painful as we are going to see, but Sin is also illogical and completely destructive, nothing good comes from it in the end. But we don’t ever see that in the moment. All we see is what we want and we usually act on what we want.

We do what we do because we want what we want.

Jonah’s predicament is bad, Jonah’s wickedness really comparatively is just as wicked as the evil kings of Israel and the evil done in Nineveh. He certainly didn’t see it that way. But failure of a prophet to speak the Words of God was a crime worthy of capital punishment. So what did God do with this mess.

We are going to see that as we move through the true story of Jonah. God commands, Jonah responds (in sin), and God’s move is to... (point number three of our outline), show Grace and that begins in verse number 4.

IV. God’s Grace

Jonah 1:4 ESV

But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.

We pick up this narrative with some really powerful words. “But God”… Just think about these words for second. When do they usually appear in scripture. They usually appear after man’s actions and choices have been seen and done. There are quite a few examples, but these here come to mind as great examples.

Genesis 50:20 ESV

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Ephesians 2:1–5 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

If you’ve ever been around two men (who are alittle too well full of themselves) and these men are arguing, what is the one thing that neither of them are willing to let the other man do in the argument? It’s to have the last word. That was certainly true of me in high school especially with my father. I really wished looking back that I had respected my father in the right way instead of the way I handled it. It would have certainly allowed our friendship to bloom much sooner than it actually did. Regardless, how does two men arguing to have the last word have anything to do with this verse in Jonah. It’s because to have the last word means that you have the final say in the matter, you won the debate, their was no counter to your argument that could stand, you have final authority on the matter. That’s why I love the statement “But God.” Man acts as they do “But God” will always have the final say in the matter because He is sovereign. The narrative of Jonah is a story about man’s depraved heart and choices but it’s also a story about how that never gets the upper hand over God. His sovereignty is always on display. Nothing can thwart that power and in any way weaken His resolve, strength, or will. Man acts but God conquers. He always wins. Jonah’s choices didn’t affect God in the slightest. He will have His way. It will be done.

And what was God’s will, it was to show Jonah grace.

Wait what? Are we even reading the same verse? God’s act of grace was to throw a massive storm at Jonah. And not just any kind of storm. A storm that as this verse describes, threatened to tear this ship apart and send them to their watery graves. That’s God’s Grace?

You bet it is, and that’s what we are going to see first.

God’s Grace

A. In the Storm

Couple of things we note about this storm.

1. It Came from God

Jonah 1:4 ESV

But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.

Initially we would look at this as God’s punishment for Jonahs stupidity. Would calling this an act of grace be the first thing that comes to our minds? I dont think so. But as you read the story of Jonah, what really was the purpose of the storm. Why did God send it? The purpose of this storm was to get Jonah’s attention. To wake him up. He might think He can run from God’s presence, but this storm was proof that He could not.

2. It was a mighty storm

This storm was no joke. How great was this storm? So great that these hardened sailors who have seen some pretty nasty days at sea were petrified.

Jonah 1:5a (ESV)

Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.

They did everything they could to stay afloat. And when that didn’t do a thing. They knew that only something divine, out of this world, could cause this. This was no natural storm that they are ever been apart of. So they called out to every single god that they could think off but none of that worked.

And where was Jonah during all of this commotion?

Jonah 1:5–6 NASB95

Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”

Jonah had gone down below deck into the inner most parts of the ship, alone. That’s the first significant thing. Rather that being with the other sailors, he kept to himself. Why is that significant? Because sin is antisocial. That’s a big statement that we could take weeks unpacking. But sin makes us antisocial. It breaks us away from wanting to be with people. It causes us to think inwardly and not outwardly, selfishly rather than servantly. Sure you can be selfish and be around other people by using them to get what you want. But a selfish person that is deep in sin realizes that people only add to their problems (at least that’s what they can believe) so will avoid them. Some people that have depression often will pull away from people in isolation rather than seek help especially when sin is involved. They don’t want help from others, all they want is to stew in their sin.

So what was Jonah doing in his isolation. Jonah was sleeping. Most likely he had fallen asleep before the storm hit. But doesn’t him sleeping seem rather unusual. In fact, I find this statement to be one of the most startling statements inside this book, right alongside of trying to run from the presence of God. As we read this, we are left with the same question that the captain has. How is it that you are sleeping?

The captains question about Jonah’s sleep had more to do with the physical circumstances in which they were in. It’s interesting that this storm that was literally wrecking the boat tossing it and turning it was not able to wake Jonah but the captains forceful ways were. The literal noise of the great wind, and the sound of the lightning, and the waves crashing against the boat didn’t stir him but a man screaming at him was enough. It’s rather interesting. I have known some heavy sleeps, but none that could compete with that.

But what is more shocking than Jonah’s ability to sleep through the physical circumstances is Jonah’s ability to sleep at all during the spiritual circumstances he was in. What Jonah was able to do in this spiritual state reveals to us again alot about the human heart and especially how people deal with sin. What word comes to your mind when we think of how someone might be feeling if they had broken a rule. Guilt. And that’s what we want to look at next to understand what is going no here.

1. Jonah’s Guilt

That’s the word that ran through my mind. How is this man, who was a devout “follower” of God able to so easily fall asleep though He has so blatantly disregarded God’s commands. I pictured him to be more like Adam and Eve, “sweating in the garden”, as they hid from God. How can a man sleep or find peace when he has cast off the perfect peace and comfort of God.

Where was Jonah’s guilt as he was sleeping on the ship.

So first off, what is guilt. I was listening to a podcast on guilt by the ACBC (assocation of Certified Biblical Counselors) board president Dale Johnson and professor of Biblical counseling from the Masters Seminary Dr. John Street. This was a really profitable listen. If your interested, search for “the war on guilt.” It’s worth your time. I’ll be using a good bit of their material from that podcast.

Anyways, they started off with a definition for guilt that I find helpful. Guilt is a legal liability or culpability to punishment. In other words, when we think of guilt, we often attach it to an emotion. Feely guility. But really, that doesn’t fully grasp the idea of what guilt is. The fact a person may not “feel guilty” does not affect his or her guilty status legally or morally. Hence, there are many living today who are living guilty of violate God’s laws and standards but feel no remorse about it or they would be turning to God. Yet, though they feel no guilt, God will nonetheless hold them accountability for their sinfulness.

Though guilt isn’t purely just emotion, it certainly affects us in big ways. In secular society, they believe guilt is just that though. A bad feeling that you simply need to get rid of.

Here’s a story to prove the point that these gentlemen brought up.

I have a relative who has been well established in the medical field for a long, long time and she is a nurse, and she tells a story of what happened to her when she was in a Christian hospital in the south where a young gal had come in. She had gone to a Christian camp and ran off with this guy. They had relations. She got pregnant. She’s 17 years old. Her mom and dad found out. Obviously, as a Christian family, abortion was not an option. So they took her to the hospital. The OBGYN checked her out and said that she was healthy, the baby was healthy, and so on. But he could tell that this girl was just overwhelmed with emotions and guilt over the problem that she had and what she was going to have to do in bearing this and the shame of that for the next nine months until the baby was born. So, my relative was assigned to be her nurse, to go to counseling sessions. The OBGYN actually made out doctor’s orders for her to go to a Christian integrationist psychologist there in the hospital, and since the parents obviously could not go with her to these appointments, then my relative was able to go. She sat down and in the second session this guy, who I found out later was actually trained in Skinnerian behaviorism, basically said to her, you know what your problem is? Your problem is guilt. Now, you need to go out and have as many sexual relationships as you can until you don’t feel guilty about it at all. My relative was sitting there in the chair and she heard this and she just about fell out of her chair. Here’s a guy who professes to be a Christian giving this girl who professes to be a Christian, who has the tragic effects of sin—Nevertheless, she’s pregnant. The problem is not with the baby. The problem’s with her sense of the sin that she bears and the shame of it—And he’s telling her basically to go out and, like allergy shots, commit this sin until she doesn’t feel bad about it anymore.

That’s a drastic event but its not the only one either. I’ve spent enough time around Biblical counseling movements to hear certified doctors talk about their leaving the practice of medicine because people are coming in with thoughts of depression, lethargy, suicidal thoughts, etc which is there because of sin and guilt and what they are being prescribed with is medicine that simply takes that away. There’s no time to actually understand why people are feeling that way. All they are trying to do is fix and suppress the symptoms. But that’s society. Don’t get me wrong. Not all of our symptoms and side effects are the results of some sin we commited. Don’t hear me saying that. Some of those effects are simply what living in a fallen and broken world involves. But note also that those things also describe living in sin. Look at how David described the symptoms of sin.

Psalm 32:1–5 ESV

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

As a child of God, I think we ought to make that the first consideration when we continually feel those. God designed guilt to work that way. But again that’s not our culture. Our culture doesn’t want culpability or accountability for their actions. Everyone just wants to play the victim card. Everyone is a victim. But again understand that guilt is not the enemy, it’s our friend.

When we treat guilt as our enemy it’s no different than if we were driving in our cars down the highway and our red check engine light comes on. Rather than stopping and checking under the hood or calling a mechanic, we pull out a hammer and smash the light in so we don’t have to see it. Is that helpful to the operation of the car. Is that gonna make sure it runs and lasts a long time. Well neither it is helpful to suppress our guilt. But that is exactly what Jonah had somehow did and what the Bible says is possible when we sin to the point that our conscience is seared as with a hot iron and you don’t feel anything anymore.

1 Timothy 4:2 ESV

through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,

God gave us this feeling. It works in tandem with our conscience though they aren’t exactly alike. Why would God give us this? To keep us from falling.

Our consciences are a God given gift. But they are not perfect. You’ve heard to let your conscience be your guide. That’s untrue.

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Your conscience should not be your guide, but it can and should be a guard if trained well.

Hebrews 5:14 ESV

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

This trained conscience keeps us from being ignorant or unknowing of sin we might commit.

The apostle Paul is a representative of this type of trained and Biblical conscience. In 1 Corinthians 4:4, Paul basically says that he searched his own conscience and found nothing but that again is not enough. The Lord must be the standard.

1 Corinthians 4:4 NASB95

For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.

Pauls statement about having the Lord judge me is the right mentality to have. We’ve seen that we can have consciences that don’t work and miss sin, but we can also have consciences that are, as some put, overactive and cause us to blame and guilt ourselves over things that are not Biblically true. Think of the instances of Christian liberty in 1 Corinthians 8 or Romans 14. We can condemn things as wrong because our conscience feels this way but the Bible never revealed this as true. In these cases, we out to yield to our conscience and not offend other believers conscience, but also we should seek to retrain our conscience so it meets Biblical standards. Our conscience isn’t our guide but the truth of the Word also should be.

All in all, this is exactly what Jonah had done getting back to our passage. He had seared his conscience, he had quenched the Holy Spirit, he had come to the point where he was not affected by his guilt and that was how he was able to sleep. Don’t think that it’s possible to do that? Well let’s examine this in our own lives.

Scripture is clear, “don’t let the sun go down on your anger” or don’t go to bed with unresolved anger, yet how many of us have ever shared a bed with someone (our spouses) who greatly angered us and we slept right through it. How’s is this possible? We’ve seared our consciences. We’ve sinned in this way so much that it no longer bothers us to go to bed like this. Early in our marriage, we would lie awake for hours on end because we both believed this truth so strongly and it persuaded on conscience to act upon it. Our guilt wouldn’t let us sleep. We lay restless in bed (chosing rather to suffer the consequences of a night of less sleep rather than put away our pride and make it right). It seems so silly. But when you do this often enough it become easier to just put the issue to bed and sleep through it because we’ve allowed our conscience to be seared.

An example from my life comes from my high school years.

Another possibility for Jonah’s sleep is that guilt can exhaust us. I know from my own life where I’m just so fed up with myself and all my failures, and rather than dealing with them the way God has prescribed for me, I deal with them the way I feel like and that is to just sleep it off. Just ignore it and hope for a better day tomorrow. That doesn’t always work but i’ve definitely done this. That’s a seared conscience and a marred guilt. A very unbiblical way of dealing with my sin and my current state. I sleep it off not because I believe it can fix my sin but because it might be able to relieve my symptoms of my sin. Sin makes you feel many things. Tired, upset, agitated, frustrated, annoyed, easily triggered, unsatisfied, overall mlllehhhh, you might understand that feeling. But we treat it just like our culture does. Just prescribe a quick fix to relief the symptoms. Just sleeping won’t fix it. Only God’s way will. Confession. What did David say in Psalm 32 of a man who gives into his guilt and confesses his sin.

Psalm 32:1 ESV

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Though Jonah may be sleeping in the midst of his sins, it is not a sleep of pure restfulness and peace. It is a deep and troubled sleep that he will awaken to, but will not feel relieved.

Jonah’s guilt was put to bed… see what I did there. His ability to sleep either by exhaustion and finding it easier to just sleep off his guilt or by constant and regular ignoring the Spirit so as to sear his conscience and feel no guilt, proved the depths of the sin he was in. He clearly wasn’t bothered by what he did. So what does God do to those who are content in their sinful ways. He sends a storm to wake us up.

MacArthur says this alot. He’s says that if we were to be left alone to do whatever we want, left to our own devices, there would be no end to the sin in my life. In other words, given the opportunity, I would most likely always turn to sin. But that’s the beauty of God’s grace and goodness. He’s the one that keeps us from falling

Jude 24 ESV

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,

Not only that but he is the one that picks us up and redirects us when we do!!!! Had God not intervened in Jonah’s life. He would have persisted in his evil ways. He would have continued his journey to Tarshish and I am absolutely convinced that there He would have stayed had God not intervened. Well that seems harsh on Jonah and harsh on us. Yes, it does because truth is, who lives our Christian lives, us or God. If you say us, then all the good we do, God doesn’t deserve any of the credit only us. But if you say God completely lives are Christian lives, then when we sin, is that God’s fault. It’s a paradoxical question, yet scripture is abundantly clear that any good that comes out of us is because of God and any bad that comes out of us is because of our own sinful selves. We can’t blame it on anyone else.

So thank the Lord for his interventions. Thank the Lord for His storms, which had they not been there, we would still continue on our dark paths. For whom the Lord loves, he does what???? He chastens.

It’s an act of love and an act of Grace.

We’ve seen Jonah’s guilt in the midst of God’s grace now let’s look at Jonah’s Last Resort as God pursues him through the attention grabbing storm.

2. Jonah’s Last Resort

Jonah 1:7–16 ESV

And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

As you read these verses, again you take note on the supreme power of God. Jonah is brought in. Lots are casts. Think of practices like drawing straws or sticks, whoever has the short stick is the one that has to do whatever the game required. In Bible times, there were many ways to cast lots thru flat coins, dice, sticks, etc. but all of them have the same idea. Selecting someone by “chance” or for these men’s sake, hoping the divine would orchestrate the results of the game.

Of course the lot, fell on Jonah. He’s been caught. He couldn’t run no more. He realized that their really wasn’t any running from God. That’s impossible. So he literally erupts everything. Tells them all about what he did and who He was. It’s significant that the God he names is the God of the land and sea. Names were a big thing in that time. Calling on a certain god was to call upon that gods power over that element. No god that these sailors knew was God of both land and see. Apparently they heard enough about God in Jonah’s little conversation to understand enough to worship him at the end of this little episode.

So Jonah, caught in God’s grace trap, decides to again do something about it. He could have repented. He could have said ok God. I now realize my error. I’m sorry. But nope that wasn’t his desire. He had another way he could yet run again. A sacrifice could be made. So Jonah offers himself as tribute to “appease the God’s”.

Was Jonah’s sacrifice a decision made because he felt sympathy for these Gentile sailors. Was this a heroic act on Jonah’s part. Had he finally made a redemption turn. No as we will find out, that didn’t come till later. This offer was not made of unselfishness like all sacrifices demanded. This offer was born of an evil desire. Of one last ditch effort to escape God’s plan. He realized he couldn’t escape God. No matter where he would go, God would be pursuing him. So how do I end the grief, how do I end the guilt, how to I end the agony, and how do I end by getting my own way. I’d rather take my own life, than obey God. This is the furthest depth of depravity that Jonah’s heart went to. As his sin increased, and his evil desires only became more entrenched in his heart, (all he could think about and obsess with was getting his way) that he truly lost more and more a clear understanding of the God of the universe. I will have my way no matter what that I am literally willing to basically commit suicide to get it. First of all, suicide is the most selfish thing a human being can ever do. A person who entertains thoughts of suicide is so self-obsessed, so conscientious of only there own woes and own problems that the only way they can solve the issue is to take their own life. But the saddest reality is that literally God is calling out to them saying I have a solution. I have what you need and what you want.

Matthew 11:28–29 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

I don’t mean to minimize suicide or treat it as something so simple. It’s a real issue that we face today. But understand suicide biblically speaking is the final result of man’s brokenness. It’s the last stop of the progression of sin. It’s the ultimate outcome of sin left unchecked. It’s man’s selfish solution to their problem. For a christian, it’s even sadder because they know that this why in part that God saved us. He came to save us from our hopelessness and give us something to live for that never disappoints, never lets us down, gives us purpose, helps us have peace, fills us with joy. So when Christians entertain the thoughts of suicide, it reflects how far they fallen from the truth and goodness of God. That they would believe that their troubles are too big for God, that what God has for them isn’t good enough, that it would be better to end their troubles than to experience the joy of what God is going to do with them. Jonah loved himself and his ideals so much that he would rather die, and be rid of his guilt (his solution) then to obey God’s command to go to Nineveh. Oh how we far he had fallen to think that death is a better deal than obedience to Christ.

When Jonah couldn’t escape God physically, he tried to end himself physically in an attempt to escape God. How far had his logical fallen. Whom would he stand before had God allowed him to do this? And do you believe at that moment, Jonah would be pleased in his decision. In the moments of sin, we rarely think rationally. That’s why it’s so important to we surround ourselves with godly people who are close to us and are willing to speak into our lives when they see something amiss. We need to start cultivating those deep relationships even now. It’s a gift that God has given that we should not neglect. Who has God given us. Who would be bold even and knows you enough and loves you enough to speak into your life had you begun to act the way Jonah did? It’s real naive and foolish to think that we will never fall to that level.

1 Corinthians 10:12 ESV

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

Jonah had fallen to the farthest depths of sin. But even then, he still hadn’t out sinned God’s grace. God’s grace was only beginning. In fact, God’s grace is evident not just for Jonah. But God again flexed his power and supreme sovereignty over the situation. God used even Jonah’s wicked rebellion to save the lives and souls of the Gentile sailors. As we read,

Jonah 1:16 ESV

Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

Praise be to God that he can even use us when we are most disobedient to Him. But God grace was not done with Jonah yet. He used the storm to get Jonah’s attention and even used the storm to save lost souls. But God grace would do so much more as we will see next week, God’s Grace in the belly of the fish!

B. In the Fish