The 3 C’s of the Call

Introduction

In life there are times where God will lead us to places that we don’t desire to go. There are times where your most impactful moments of ministry may come in places that you least expected to be and in places that you might not want to be in the first place. Sometimes understanding that the place we are in the city we live in, the neighborhood we live in, the school or job we are at is just where God wants us right now.

God calls us to certain places not just for our well being but the well being of the world. God knows that sometimes you are the only person that He can entrust to bring light to that situation. The interesting part is sometimes you are just delaying work that you’re going to have to do in the first place.

Today we will introduce to some and review for others a story about Jonah. God calls Jonah to go the city of Nineveh and Jonah refuses and actually spends his own money to go to a city in the opposite direction. Nineveh is said to be the palace city for many Assyrian Kings. This city was home to one of the fiercest enemies of Israel. What we should understand that even in the midst of them being an enemy God sends a messenger to encourage them to repent. A royal palace that is sad to have had at one time a massive structure of seventy rooms. Biblically it’s stated to be a wicked city to the point that Jonah refused to go there. Even the prophet Nahum proclaimed the fall of Nineveh, a city filled with commercial exploitation, prostitution, witchcraft and even the torture of those who did not bow down to certain deities. Nahum 3:1 “Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs.”

Nonetheless God decided that Jonah was the person for the job. I need to us to remember that when God calls us there’s a command, a choice, and a consequence. God’s call comes with instructions and directions that we must follow. God’s call also provides us with a choice, we can run from it, or we can surrender to His will and carry out this call. Nonetheless, no matter what we choose there is a consequence.

Command

The bible states that the word of the LORD came to Jonah. When we understand the sovereignty of God we recognize that what the word of the LORD says we should follow. In other words the supreme, independent authority of Yahweh came to Jonah. This is not just a command but it is a focus on the sure existence and God’s relationship to His covenant with His people.

It’s similar to some telling me that I should do something, it could be right and it could be something that I should follow but when it comes from my own father it’s different. This is the man that gave me life, this is the man that provided for me, this is the man that was called to protect me. This isn’t just a command, this is God calling you to do something for the benefit of His kingdom. This is God in everything that God is, commanding Jonah to do something specific. God has a word, God has a command for each and every one of us.

If we truly believe that God does not make mistakes, and we believe in the perfect nature of God, why do we have such a problem with following His commands. One of the problems we have as people is we see the command of God through our compass of capacity. We have to stop looking at the strength of Nineveh and have faith in the strength of God. Even in the wickedness of Nineveh the grace of God reigns supreme. He’s sending Jonah there to be the voice for their opportunity to repent. When we don’t follow the command of God we are getting in the way of the true deliverance of people. The cruelties of Nineveh aren’t expressed in this text, nonetheless Nahum 2:11–12 say, “Where is the dwelling of the lions, And the feeding place of the young lions, Where the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub, And no one made them afraid? The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, Killed for his lionesses, Filled his caves with prey, And his dens with flesh.”

Even in the face of fear and wickedness, the command should prompt us to face the fear and the discomfort, not run from it.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Choice

When God provides us with a command it’s up to us to make a choice. Friends and family what choice will you make with the command that is sitting right in front of you right now.

Jonah 1:3 “But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”

According to historians and geography Tarshish seems to be the farthest point to which Phoenician merchants traveled for economic reasons. Jonah essentially tried to flee as far as possible from the presence of God.

It’s funny that when we don’t want to do something we will go great lengths to block our responsibility. The bible says he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

The bible doesn’t say that he (Jonah) paid his fare, the bible states that he paid “the” fare. Essentially Jewish commentators suggest that the use of the feminine suffix indicate that Jonah paid the price for the whole ship. Possibly indicating that Jonah had a little bit of bread. Some of us are living good, we have everything we ever wanted and are still without peace because we are operating outside of our calling.

This story also indicates that we are not in control of what happens in the midst of a storm, but we are responsible for the storms that we find ourselves in sometime.

Jonah 1:4–6 “But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.””

See this is the sobering part of this text is for us to understand that refusing to follow the command of God not only impacts us but impacts those around us as well. These men weren’t Hebrew, the bible states that every man cried out to his god, nonetheless it’s something to note that Jonah was unbothered in the storm, because a storm on the run can feel more comfortable than the discomfort of your calling.

What choice will you make today, God is calling, God is setting the expectation and I need us to understand that we cannot outrun the call of God. You can go under your power or you can go forcefully kicking and screaming. I remember as a kid my mother would give us that pep talk before we walked in the store, and essentially we had a choice, we could walk peacefully by the basket and help where requested or we could treat the grocery store like a Saturday morning track meet, if we chose the latter it would typically result in some sort of overthrow and dragging that Jonah experienced.

In life you can make the decision based on God’s command or you can end up at your destination kicking and screaming, regardless the destination that God wants you at will be the destination.

Consequence

Jonah 1:10–12 “Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled 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 be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous. And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.””

This is on the heels that the storm has gotten so bad that they asked Jonah where did you come from, what is your occupation. I need you to understand that people know when the children of the light don’t belong. Embrace your set apart, embrace your sanctification, even further all of this could have been avoided if he had just obeyed God in the first place. Nonetheless confession is a byproduct of acknowledging your consequence.

Prior to this Jonah states Jonah 1:9 “So 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.”” He lets them know that he is a servant of God and knows that this is the God that controls everything which identifies God as the causation of the storm. Even with that being said and after Jonah asked to be tossed off the ship they extend grace by trying hard to get to land before they threw Jonah in the raging sea. The remarkable part about the power of God is that His consequences will even get people to acknowledge the soveriengty and power of the almighty God. The New Living Translation states “the sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve Him.

Here’s the takeaway at some point we ought to get tired of learning from mistakes that we make and learn from observing and precept! On the ship of live some of us are responsible for the storm because we are running from something. How long will you run, how long will you try to escape the duty that God has called you to! I need to understand that there is something in our life that we are just going to have to face and deal with! There is no more running, and if you can’t see to muster up enough strength to handle it on your own, understand it was never mean for you to be the solution. All God wants from us is to follow His instructions. What is your Joppa this morning? Where are you running to try to escape the call of God. You know it’s quite ironic that Joppa is actually actually the nearest seaport of Jerusalem. Some of us are running to places that God has another plan for.

Acts 9:36 “At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did.”

Nonetheless the first command that you need to adhere to is the command to give your life to Christ before it’s everlasting to late. Today you have a choice an whatever choice you make has a consequence attached to it. You can choose fellowship with Jesus Christ or you can live your life hanging in the balance of missing the opportunity to become a Christian and leaving eternity hanging in the balance of what you did not do.

“The GPS You Keep Recalculating”

Have you ever been driving somewhere with GPS on… and you know the route it’s giving you is right, but you don’t like where it’s taking you?

So you ignore it.

You take a turn you weren’t supposed to take. And the GPS doesn’t argue. It doesn’t panic. It just calmly says:

“Recalculating.”

You take another turn. Another shortcut. Another detour.

And again:

“Recalculating.”

What’s wild is this: The GPS never changes the destination. It only changes how uncomfortable the journey becomes.

Eventually, the road gets narrower. Traffic gets heavier. You hit construction. You end up stuck in places you didn’t plan to be, burning more gas, losing more time, all because you didn’t want to follow the original instruction.

And here’s the line you drop:

👉 Some of us are in storms not because God changed His mind, but because we keep forcing Him to recalculate.

Jonah didn’t cancel Nineveh— he just chose a harder route to get there.

Tie it directly to Jonah

God said, “Go to Nineveh.” Jonah said, “I’ll go anywhere but there.”

God didn’t revoke the call. He recalculated the route.

Nineveh was still the destination— but now it involved a storm, terrified sailors, confession, and a fish.

You can disobey God and still end up where He wants you— but you won’t arrive the same way.

Bring it home (this is where people stop running)

Some of us are mad at God about the storm, but God is saying:

“You wouldn’t be here if you had just trusted Me at the first turn.”

You’re blaming the waves, but it was the choice.

You’re rebuking the storm, but it was the detour.

You’re asking God to calm the sea, and God is asking you to stop running.

Here it is, clean and direct:

You can obey God and walk into purpose, or you can run from God and get dragged into destiny. Either way, you’re going to where He said— the question is how much damage you’re willing to take on the way.

So I ask you what Jonah had to face:

What is your Joppa? Where did you turn because you didn’t like the instruction?

And more importantly— how long are you going to make God keep recalculating?