In the belly of a whale

Prayer

So last week we learned about what happens when we listen to God and we follow where he takes us. But what about when we dont listen to him? Do things go right? What happens when we dont listen to the Lord?

Now, i told a crazy story last week....so I’m going to tell another cray story…even wilder than last time!! This is a story about a prophet whom God told to go to a bad place called Nineveh and to tell them to stop sinning and turn to God.

Does anybody here know this man? What is his name? His name is Jonah.

Well, one day as Jonah was praying to God, God told Jonah to go teach the wayward people of Ninavah. But Jonah did not like that idea so what do you think he did? He rebelled!! Instead he went the opposite direction of where God was telling him to go. Why do you think he didn’t want to go to Nineveh? Because he had no desire for those people to receive Gods mercy. He did not like them!! So I’m going to stop right there for a minute, have you ever been asked to do something that you dont like so you just decided not to do it?

Here i will read Jonah 1:3–9 “But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.” Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What countr…”

So, we see that Jonah is not listening to God, infact he is running away! So hes on this ship, a huge storms comes thats going to kill them all and the pirates of the ship have discovered its Jonahs fault why the storm is raging. So....what do you think theyre going to do to Jonah?

Make him walk the plank!!!

They threw him overboard and the rain and storm stopped just like that! Jonah 1:14–17“Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.” Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.”

Now what.

Jonah is at sea....and the guy just got swallowed by a giant fish. Maybe a whale.

Surely hes gotta be dead now right?

How could Jonah have fixed this problem? By listening to God and doing what he asked him to do!

You know the crazy thing is, Jonah lived in this whale for three days and three nights.

So Jonah prayed to God, asked for forgiveness and God told the fish to spit Jonah out onto the shore.

So now, Jonah followed God. HE went to Nineveh. The city was so large it took three days to see it all! Jonah 3:4-9

Jonah 3:4–9 NLT

On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow. When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”

Jonah 3:10 NLT

When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

See what would’ve happened. If only Jonah obeyed God from the start he woulnt have gotten himself into such a mess .

So now, Jonah still wanted the whole city to die. He thought God would destroy it! But, this happened instead Jonah 4:5-10

Jonah 4:5–10 NLT

Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed. Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!” Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly.

So what do we learn from this story?

God forgives if we repent, God provides what we need and when we need it. But most importantly, it is important for us to obey!! Because who want to be swallowed by a whale! Gods plan is sufficient, just like last week and the walls of Jericho. If we obey what we are told it will go well for us and who knows, may just save a life or two.

craft - blue cup whale and Jonah