The Danger of Running from God

Jonah Series: Wrestling with Obedience

Message #2

Jonah 1:4-16.

ETS: Jonah and those with him experienced a great storm because of the disobedience of Jonah.

ESS: We should obey God.

OSS: [Devotional] {I want the hearers to recognize the dangers of disobeying God and commit to living a life of obedience to God.}

PQ:

What are the dangers of disobeying God?

UW: Dangers

TS: Let us examine together the dangers of disobeying God as displayed in the text today:

We become complacent and sluggish while the lost world is dying. [vv. 4-6]

The sailors were afraid and calling out to their gods for help in panic.

Jonah, meanwhile, is sleeping without any concern.

(Notice: They’re praying. Jonah is sleeping. Perhaps his sleeping is a mechanism of denial and dismissal of the fact that he was running from God and knew the misery he would cause)

We live a lifestyle incongruent with our identity. [vv. 7-9]

They singled Jonah out by casting lots.

They requested Jonah to identify himself and the issue.

The issue: Jonah identified himself as a Hebrew who worshipped Yahweh (God)—yet in this moment, he was running from God is disobedience, not worship. [Note: The danger of disobedience is that we live a hypocritical life, often times living a lifestyle incongruent with how we identify ourselves.]

We cause issues for those around us. [vv. 10-16]

The storm itself was an issue for the sailors traveling— and we know from context that the storm came about by the power of God because of the disobedience of Jonah. [Side note: It is worth noting that this is not always the case for storms— God does not operate as a God who says, you did wrong, I’m going to punish you by ____”; Yet, God is sovereign and He can do whatever He wants to do.

The sailors continually tried to rely on their own power and ability—rowing to get back to shore—yet, they realized they couldn’t, so they cried out to Yahweh for help.

Notice: Though there are great dangers involved in disobeying God, we must take note that God does not waste a single moment of our lives. He sometimes uses our disobedience to draw others around us to Himself—like in this instance, using the disobedience of Jonah to bring these sailors to Himself. They went from praying to their god at the beginning of the storm to crying out to the LORD near the end of the storm.

Response Questions:

[1] If you are running from God, you are actively disobeying God. Maybe you are like Jonah and asleep to deny the reality of your situation and the situation of those around you. What will it take for you to wake up?

[2] Often without even realizing it, we can live hypocritical lives— Jonah certainly was in these moments, “I am a Hebrew…I worship the LORD”— yet, he was actively disobeying the Lord. Are you actively living a hypocritical life?

[3] Do you realize the impact that your disobedience has on others? Disobeying God can wreak havoc not only in your own life, but also the lives of those around you.