HIDING FROM GOD

FISH SWALLOWING

CAN YOU REMEMBER A TIME IN YOUR LIFE WHEN YOU THOUGHT, THIS IS IT MAN, I HAVE MESSED UP SO BADLY THAT I AM OUT OF HERE!!

WHEN I STARTED WORKING STRAIGHT FROM SCHOOL I WENT TO WORK AT THE BANK - NOW TYPICALLY YOU START AT THE BOTTOM AND I DID AND THROUGH VARIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES I ACCEPTED ATRANDFER TO A BRANCH FURTHER AWAY FROM HOME BUT ONE THAT OPPORTUNITY WAS AVAILABLE TO ME.

USUALLY YOU HAD TO BE 21 TO BE TRAINED AS A TELLER AND IM NOT SURE WHY BUT FOR SOME REASON MY SUPERVISOR CALLED ME AND ASKED IF I WOULD LIKE TO BE SENT ON THE TELLER TRAINING. I WAS ONLY 19 AT THE TIME. NATURALLY I JUMPED ON THAT OPPORTUNITY. SHE HOWEVER DID NOT STOP REMINDING ME THAT I WAS A LITTLE YOUNG AND IF I DID NOT PASS TELLER SCHOOL I COULD ALWAYS TRY AGAIN.

WELL WHAT DO YOU KNOW I PASSED!!

BUT AFTER A FEW MONTHS MY HEAD TELLER HAD ASKED ME TO HELP HER WITH THE WAGES ONE DAY AND I PROCEEDED TO DO THAT AND WHEN IT CAME TO BALANCING AT THE END OF THE DAY I WAS $1000.00 SHORT.

WELL I WAS DEVESTATED. WE CHECKED AND CROSS CHECKED AND THEY EVEN LOOKED IN MY PURSE ( JUST IN CASE ). I WENT HOME TOTALLY DEFEATED AND READY TO BE HAULED OVER THE COALS THE NEXT DAY.

I WAS CONVINCED THAT THAT WAS IT, THEY WOULD FIRE ME FOR SURE.

SLIDE JONAH

JONAH

I AM SURE THAT IS WHAT JONAH THOUGHT WHEN THEY WERE GETTING READY TO THROW HIM OVER THE SIDE OF THE BOAT.

REMEMBER LAST WEEK WE SPOKE ABOUT WHAT HAPPEND WHEN YOU DISOBEY

THE QUESTION I ASKED WAS WHO PAYS WHEN YOU DISOBEY?

WELL JUST SO YOU ARE REMINDED THERE IS MORE THAN YOU AND GOD IN DOSOBEYING

FOR JONAH HE PAID FOR THAT JOURNEY SO HIS BANK ACCOUNT WAS A LITTLE LESS:

HE WALKED AWAY

THERE WERE THE MARINERS THAT NEARLY LOST THEIR LIVES

THEY LOST THEIR CARGO

SOMEONE LOST PRODUCT ON BOTH SIDES, THE PRODUCER AND THE CONSUMER

DOWN TO JOPPA

DOWN INTO THE BOWLS OF THE BOAT

DOWN INTO THE SEA

DOWN INTO THE BELLY OF THE WHALE

JONAH

Jonah 1:17 ESV

And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 2 ESV

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

POWER IN TEXT -

THEN - JONAH PRAYED TO THE LORD HIS GOD!!

WHEN?

THEN!!

WHEN YOU HAVE EXHAUSEDTED ALL AVENUES

WHEN YOU HAVE RUN AND RUN AND RUN

IT WAS ALL DOWN HILL FROM THE MOMENT HE CHOSE TO DISOBEY

DOWN TO JOPPA

DOWN INTO THE BOWLS OF THE BOAT

DOWN INTO THE SEA

DOWN INTO THE BELLY OF THE WHALE

MAIN POINT

PRAY BEFORE SOMETHING HAPPENS

PRAY FOR OBEDIENT HEARTS

PRAY FOR DISCERNING HEARTS

PRAY FOR SOFTENED HEARTS

PRAY FOR IT IS OUR MOST POWERFUL WEAPON

PRAYER IS WHERE WE COMMUNE WITH GOD

THIS IS MY “WHY DOES IT MATTER ?” POINT

Jonah shows us that God has a way of bringing us to the place where we want what He wants.

WHAT DOES GOD WANT?

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

I USED TO LOVE WATCHING THE TELLERS CHAT WITH THE CLIENTS AND

APPLICATION

SPEND TIME ABIDING AND GETTING TO KNOW GOD

HANG OUT WITH HIM

NO STRINGS ATTACHED