Messages

A message from the series “See Jonah Run.” It’s good to be with you church.In case we haven’t met, my name is Andrew. I serve as one of the Pastor’s here. Let me add my Happy Father’s Day wishes to you Dad’s as well. I hope that you are being celebrated and treated like a King. Maybe you get to take a nap, have a BBQ…perhaps your kids got you something from Home Depot, whatever it is this is your weekend, we really hope you enjoy it.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been in a series looking at the book of Jonah. And one of the really challenging things in studying Jonah, is that it’s often told as a kid’s story. And I get it, there are some elements in it that lend itself to that sort of thing: being swallowed by a big fish, animals dressed in sack cloth, the very hungry caterpillar at the end. It is a funny story. But the problem is when we treat it as a kid’s story, when we believe the Veggie Tales version, it can get in the way of us recognizing the challenging word God has for us within. That said, I want to encourage you to do your best, to take what is for many of us a very familiar story, and to try and listen today with fresh ears.

We’re picking up in Jonah chapter 3. If you’ve got a bible, or bible app, open it up and join with me in verse 1. “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.”

If you were with us when we started this series, or you’ve taken the Jonah challenge, that verse should ring a bell. It sounds a lot like the way the book begins, doesn’t it? We got sidetracked with Jonah running away from God, the big storm and the big fish. But that’s not the main story. The main story is about God and the great city of Nineveh. Jonah’s disobedience might have delayed, but it did not deter God from his purpose. Undeterred, our persistent God resumes. And he sends Jonah.

Our message is entitled “Jonah Runs For God” and as we unpack chapter three, I’m going share a couple things that this passage teaches us about God’s sending, and us going. But…I don’t want you to assume at the end of this that I’m suggesting we ought to be like Jonah. As we’ve seen over the first two weeks, and we’ll continue to see throughout the series, Jonah is a complicated Prophet. There’s a sense where Jonah might teach us more about running for God, by looking at his life in the negative rather than the positive. So keep that in mind. Jonah is not a straightforward book on how to be an effective Missionary, as sometimes it’s been taught. What the book of Jonah does do quite well, is communicate a story that happens to match up with other places in the bible about the way God works and how we might better partner with him.

Back to text. Chapter one and chapter three parallel in a lot of ways. The repentance of the sailors in chapter one foreshadows what we’re going to see happen in Nineveh in chapter three. If you’re familiar with the text, you know verses one and two here are almost identical to what the author says at the beginning of chapter one. When biblical authors do this, when they utilize parallel but not identical passages, it’s really important that we pay attention to where the differences are. Remember, they’re not highlighting, underlining or bolding the font in their text like we do. What the authors doing was often used as one ancient form of emphasizing a point. So what are the differences?

First, the author replaced the words “son of Amittai” with “a second time.” In doing so the author is drawing our attention to and stressing the fact that Jonah was sent a second time. Why’s that important? Because who else gets sent a second time in the bible? Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely those reticent to go when called. Moses complained he couldn’t speak well. Jeremiah claimed to be too young, Gideon complained that his clan was the weakest, and he was the least in his family. But in each instance, they answered the call. The reason the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time is because Jonah ran for the hills the first time. Isn’t it interesting that there is no condemnatory word? No chastisement or rebuke. Just go.

If God worked the way you or I do, God’s word certainly wouldn’t have come to Jonah a second time. If was up to us, Jonah would have stayed fish food and God’s word went to an obedient prophet. But thankfully for Jonah’s sake and for ours, God’s ways are not our ways.

God calls unexpected people. Rarely does he ever call the qualified, capable, logical choice. Abraham was a 75-year-old idol worshipper when God called him. David was a shepherd, the youngest of eight sons, who would eventually commit adultery and murder, Peter an uneducated fisherman, who after three years as a disciple denied that he ever knew Jesus.

If there’s a place that we should identify with Jonah, it’s here. We don’t deserve to be called, we don’t deserve to be sent or invited into God mission for the world. We might not have hopped a boat to the far reaches of the globe, but who among us hasn’t at some point turned their back on God? For those of you sitting on your hands convinced that God can’t use you because of something you’ve done: you’re exactly the kind of person that God so often unexpectedly sends. We don’t have to have it all together to run for God. What he wants from us is the acknowledgement that we don’t have it all together and a willingness to run with him none the less.

The second difference that might stand, will be important a little later. In chapter three verse two, you can see God, has dropped another phrase. God no longer tells Jonah to “cry out against” the city, for their “wickedness has come before me.” His command is now “proclaim to it the message I tell you.” “Proclaiming a message to” feels different than “crying out against them because of their wickedness” doesn’t it? It’s slight, almost imperceptible, but it’s almost as if the door has been cracked. God is allowing us to see the beginnings of daylight, the smallest signs of something about to happen in Nineveh. But we’ll have to wait a few more verses to find out.

While chapter one, verse three tells us of Jonah running away, fleeing the presence of the Lord, now we’re told of Jonah’s obedience. “So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across.

Some scholars that will point to this verse and say, you see, it’s a fairy tale. What ancient city is three days walk in diameter? Excavations of the city walls have revealed that at its largest Nineveh was still only about seven miles wide. Even at the slowest most leisurely stroll, it wouldn’t take three days to cross seven miles. So, what do we do with this? Is the Bible lying to us? No of course it’s not. Nineveh was not just used to refer to the city itself, it was also a term used to refer to the province, made up of three different cities, some 50 miles in diameter. It’s a term used, much the same way LA County can include both Malibu and Arcadia, a distance itself of roughly 50 miles. The 120,000 people mentioned in chapter 4, are now seen as a fairly accurate estimation for the cities that make up greater Nineveh.

But there’s also something important in describing it’s size in the terms of a three day walk. In Jonah 1:17, we’re told that “the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”

In chapter three verse three, we’re told Jonah was to go to an “exceedingly large city, three days walk across.” Do you see the connection? Large fish, large city. Three days, three days. One commentator suggested that for this Jewish prophet to enter the large city of Nineveh, was like being swallowed up again by the monster in the depths of the sea and exiled from the land of the living. In fact, in Jeremiah 51, Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon are described as a sea monster, one that devoured Zion, which found it’s place in the beasts’ belly. Jonah wasn’t anticipating this being a hospitable place. While the three days in the fish might have inclined him toward obedience, it in no way changed his hearts toward the Ninevites or made the prospect of preaching in the city any more pleasant.

Later on the biblical prophet Nahum would describe Nineveh as a city of blood, full of plunder and never without victims.” They weren’t there yet. They were not yet at the height of their viciousness, but they were catching their stride. Developing a reputation for wickedness we saw in chapter one that made its way before God. More than any other nation of their day, their wickedness stood out as on a different level to God. Even their own king was compelled to comment on their evil ways and violence in verse eight. I’m just curious, anyone want to go on that mission trip?

It’s not odd then that Nineveh should find themselves under God’s judgment, particularly given their wickedness. It is however odd, for God to send a prophet their way to speak of this judgment much less give them a forty-day window. When you read the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis they got no window, nor warning. We see other prophets prophesying judgment against the nations, but other than perhaps Daniel, that word is almost always spoken in a Jewish context, not in the nations themselves, to the recipients of the judgement. There’s a uniqueness to this story. What makes it all the more interesting is that a more literal translation of verse three, describes Nineveh in the Hebrew, gedola le Elohim not as “exceedingly large” but rather a great city to God. A great city to God. As if there is something special about God’s relationship to Nineveh, which as we’ll see is exactly the case.

To sum up the lesson from this section, I’ll simply say – not only does God call us, unexpected people as we may be, He calls us to unexpected places and to unexpected people. Like Jonah, we’re not called to the easy places, the safe places or comfortable places. We’re called to go to whatever place God calls us to go, for whatever purpose God has ordained. More often than not because, he’s calling us to reach a people or a person special in His eyes.

I can’t help but think when Jesus was about to be taken up, and he says in Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” That the disciples cringed just a little when Jesus said Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Jerusalem, Judea, sure Lord we’ll minister here. But Lord, not out there, not to them. Did you ever notice that it’s really not until the persecution following Stephen’s martyrdom in Acts 8, that they finally respond, and begin to obey? It’s only then that the Holy Spirit led them to Samaria. That’s the job. This probably goes without saying, but we’re not just called to the people we like, or people like us. Some of you know this, and it drives you crazy. There is someone God keeps putting on your heart again and again, and again. And every time you say no God, anywhere but there, anyone but them. He comes back, I’ve got a message for them, they are special to me, they are great in my eyes, now go.

I want to add this, it’s not in the text, but as I said in the beginning, we’re not Jonah. The difference for most of us is that we are in Christ, and received the Holy Spirit. We can be confident that the Father will shape our hearts to be like His. Unlike Jonah, over time under the Spirit’s guidance we will come to love the Nineveh’s in our lives. The Apostle Paul’s spirit filled heart for the lost, we read about reverberating through his letters, that’s the trajectory we’re on, not Jonah’s recalcitrant heart. Do we have tough times, with difficult people, yes, absolutely we do. But if the Spirit of the Living Lord is in you, then we’re going to look more like Jesus weeping, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, as he laments their impending destruction, then like Jonah taking a front row seat to watch Nineveh burn. That might be a good litmus for Christianity right there. Who do you weep over, and who’s destruction do you secretly revel in? Whose heart do you have in you? Jesus or Jonah?

Jonah heads to Nineveh, but it doesn’t seem like he’s that happy about it. We’re told Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” That’s odd, the city or province is how many days across? Three? He makes one single day’s walk into Nineveh and that’s all he can stand he cant’s stand no more. He preaches his sermon, one sermon and then he’s done. The next time we hear from him, is in chapter four. There’s he’s set up a little booth to the east of the city, waiting to catch a glimpse, still hoping for God’s judgment. We’ll hear more about that next week. However, it wasn’t just that Jonah left so abruptly that seems to be amiss. Let’s look at the message he proclaimed. Our English text has Jonah’s sermon dialed in at eight words, in Hebrew it’s five.

It’s an odd message regardless of the length. Look at it, and think to yourself about what is missing. Does Jonah list any of the things that the Ninevites have done wrong? No. Nor does he provide any suggestion of what they might do to respond to the message. In the Luke’s gospel, John the Baptizer sees crowds coming out to him to be baptized and he says “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” Two verses down he warns “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Do you see what John does? Wrath is coming, true repentance is the only appropriate response.

At the conclusion of Peter’s first sermon in Acts, those listening ask “Brothers what should we do?” “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Do you see how Jonah might have been missing something? Come on, he doesn’t even mention God’s name once. He’s sandbagging. He’s trying to sabotage his own message. It’s like he’s putting in the minimum effort necessary to pacify God’s wrath against himself without averting it for the Ninevites.

Yet to no avail. If Jonah’s efforts were to sabotage the message, he failed miserably because his message succeeded unthinkably. As a result of his five word message “the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

Isn’t that awesome? As terrible as the sermon was, the Ninevites still filled in the blanks. They’re eyes and ears were opened as the word cut to their hearts. As ambiguous as the message was, they heard what they needed to hear and they were broken open by it. They were confronted by the wickedness of their ways and that the one and only all-powerful God was bringing judgment upon them. And with all that they were, they repented. The city was turned.

When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.”

Verse 10 is almost a postscript. By the time we get here in the story we already know what’s coming. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. Of course he didn’t. He had arranged all of this, for the purpose of forgiving them.

Can you imagine what some of the other prophets must have thought when they heard this story. In Jeremiah chapter thirty-six, the Lord told Jeremiah, “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now. Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.” Jeremiah was obedient. The first time. He did what God said and when the scroll containing these words was brought before the king of Judah to be read, we’re told “Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes.

What do you do with that? Was Jonah a more faithful prophet than Jeremiah? No way. Yet Jonah stubbornly mumbles five words and a city of vicious godless foreigners turns, the King of which, strips off his clothes and sits down in the dust. While Jeremiah’s words are tossed in the fire by the anointed king of Judah.

Here it is, God calls unexpected people, to unexpected places, yielding unexpected results. We have no idea what God’s going to do other than what he says in His word that he will do. We can go, we can speak God’s word, they can fall on deaf ears. Or tomorrow, the city of Los Angeles could be overturned. I believe our entire city could be saved, in the same way Nineveh was. Even just through one of us. I think we should pray to that end, share our faith to that end, dream dreams to that end. But that end is not dependent on you and I. As you and I are called to wherever and to whomever it may be that God calls us, we’re not called to produce the results. The Apostle Paul says. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. It’s God, not us.

Running for God is about being faithful to the call and entrusting our fruitfulness to God. And in case you want some more humble pie, as we see in Jonah’s story our faithfulness isn’t even a requirement for God’s fruitfulness. Often when people hear that their response is then “If what I do doesn’t matter, why should I even run for God?” Again back to the story, whether God needed Jonah or not, God wanted Jonah. He was willing to chase Jonah to the end of the earth, and the bottom of the sea, to bring Jonah on board with the plan. We should Run for God because he’s called us to. But I think this is the more compelling reason. Because we get to.

Unexpected as we may be, God has invited us to play an incredible part in the story of another. As we’ll see next week, Jonah was looking for the wrong seat, he wanted a front row seat, to judgement, when we run with God you and I get a front-row seat to redemption and new creation. We get to be a part of someone being eternally forgiven and embraced by their heavenly father for the first time in their life, to see a name written in the book of life. Church we get to run with God, and it’s the best job there is. Let’s give him thanks for that.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Do you ever struggle with feeling you should be further along in your spiritual growth than you are? Judy Mandl shares from Romans 8:1 and reminds us that although God’s desire for us is that we would grow in Christlikeness, He is patient with us as we move through that process, and does not condemn us at those times when we may not feel as though we’re moving fast enough.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Pastor Rick reflects on 1 Peter 5:8-9 and asks us whether we’re more alarmed by the thought of a tiger on the loose in Houston, or a lion on the prowl in our own neighborhood.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Raquel looks at Matthew 5:10-12 and reminds us of how important it is to remember our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who are persecuted because of righteousness.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” As a Christian, does it really matter what I “do” as long as I “believe” the right things? Pastor Andrew Krayer-White looks at Peter’s sermon on Pentecost and the response of the people who came under conviction as a result of his message.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” At those times when you are up against a situation or set of circumstances that seem impossible, Judy Mandl encourages us to remember the words of Jeremiah 32:27.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Pastor Rick reflects on Matthew 28:19-20 and Jesus’ promise of His presence as we’re fulfilling His assignment to be disciple-makers.

A message from the series “See Jonah Run.” This weekend we’re continuing our look at one of the most familiar fish stories of all time. The story of Jonah and the Great Fish. We’re looking at this story throughout this month of June, and as I was thinking about that, I realized that just about everybody has a FISH STORY. So I thought I’d start by asking you what is Your Most Memorable Fish Story?

Even if you’ve never been fishing, you’ve probably got a fish story. That’s why I phrased this question NOT “What is your most memorable FISHING story” because we’re not all fishermen or fisherwomen, but instead, “What is your most memorable FISH story”? I want to give you some latitude here, I’m talking about any story involving a fish. Maybe it was the time your cat mistook your child’s goldfish for catnip, and you had to explain to your little one why the bowl where goldie lived was now empty. Maybe it was a negative experience you had at Sea World or the time you got some bad Sushi? Maybe it’s the biggest fish you ever caught, or the one that got away, or, or, or…

One of my favorite FISH STORIES is one that was told on the TV series SEINFELD. This fish story was told by George Costanza. The episode begins with Kramer (the tall guy with the “crazy” hair) using the beach as his driving range. He has somehow acquired 600 Titleist golf balls from a driving range and decides to practice his driving skills by hitting them off of a beach into the ocean, rather than hitting them off a tee at a driving range.

At another point in that episode, Jerry runs into this girl that he and George knew in college and she expresses an interest in the perpetually under-achieving George, and she asks Jerry what George is doing these days. And Jerry, not wanting to throw George under the bus by letting her know what a loser he is, instead of lies and tells her that George became a MARINE BIOLOGIST. So, she eventually goes out with George, and at one point she and George are walking down the beach, she sees a crowd of people and someone says that there is a WHALE IN DISTRESS in the shallow water, and someone else begins shouting “Is anyone here a Marine Biologist?” And she says “GEORGE!!!!” And let me let George tell you what happens next. Seinfeld Marine Biologist Video Clip

That’s a great fish story! It would be hard to top that. But there’s one guy in the Bible who can. His name is Jonah, and it’s his story we’re looking at this month. When we last left Jonah, he was RUNNING FROM GOD. Jonah, Chapter 1 tells us that God spoke to Jonah and gave him an assignment.

Jonah 1:1 tells us… “The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh.” Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are; But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord; Jonah didn’t want to go and preach in Nineveh because Jonah was a Jew, a proud Jew. And Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and Assyria was a pagan nation – the great enemy of the Jewish people And Jonah knew that if he went there and preached the gospel, it would be just like the Lord to save that city. And when God saves somebody he blesses them and Jonah was happy for God to bless Israel…

But he didn’t want the Assyrians to be blessed by God, and so he came up with his own plan. Jonah found a boat; Jonah booked his passage; Jonah hopped on board that boat and started a journey that he hoped would take him far away from the place where God was trying to send him as he could possibly get. But, Jonah soon discovered that when you are running from God it’s not always smooth sailing. . . In the first chapter of Jonah’s story, as Jonah ran from God we saw The Price He Paid For His Disobedience.

We saw that in the form of a storm came upon the boat on which he was sailing, a storm the likes of which the sailors had never seen before. And strangely enough, while the sailors are throwing cargo overboard, and fighting for their lives against the storm. Jonah, the one who had caused the whole thing, is sound asleep below deck. The sailors realized that the storm that had come upon them had something to do with Jonah, and so they asked him what they needed to do to make the storm stop Jonah told them that what they needed to do was throw him overboard. They didn’t want to do that, But then, when nothing else would work they finally did.

At the end of Chapter 1, we’re told that “…the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.”

If you know the story of Jonah, then you know that the storm that came upon him was not some random meteorological occurrence, but rather it came about because of his unwillingness to obey the Lord. And while we may not be able to relate to his specific set of circumstances, in that we’ve most likely never been in the belly of a fish – we can relate to his experience in another sense. Most of us know what it’s like to find ourselves suddenly and unexpectedly thrust into the middle of a storm – a crisis.

For years our life can be going along calmly, smooth sailing, and one day peacefully leading to another. God is in his heaven, and all is right with the world, and then suddenly without warning — it happens — our world is turned upside down. Maybe it’s a FINANCIAL REVERSAL or a FAMILY PROBLEM. Sometimes it’s an ISSUE WITH OUR HEALTH or a DIFFICULTY WITH OUR JOB. Maybe it’s the LOSS OF A LOVED ONE. Whatever it is, it affects everything else in our life. It colors everything It robs us of our joy.

Why Do Storms Come Upon Us? Let me give you four reasons. Some of the storms that come upon us are…

1) CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CHOICES

That’s what happened to Jonah, and it happens to us as well. If we’re honest we have to admit that. Often we have no one to blame for the storms we’re in but ourselves. A man chooses to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day from the time he is fifteen for the next 30 years, and he gets lung cancer, and then he shakes his fist at God and says — “How could you?”

A stock trader gets greedy and goes for the big kill in the market and the market catches him the wrong way, he loses tens of thousands of dollars and says “God, how could you? I tithe. . . I pray. . . how could you do this to me, Lord?”

A married couple chooses to ignore all of what God’s Word says about what it takes to build a solid marriage. Their relationship disintegrates — A divorce is the result and in the middle of it they say “God, how could you?”

Parents neglect their children during the impressionable years. They fail to do the tough work of love and discipline because they are so busy building careers that there’s not enough listening…Not enough nurturing… Not enough love. Rebellion sets in. Waywardness sets in. Resentment sets in. There is a family crisis and they say, “God, how could you?”

A person drives too fast or someone drinks and gets behind the wheel, and an accident happens, and grieving people at the funeral say “God, how could you?”

People can be so busy blaming God, that they never stop to consider the fact that if the truth of the matter were known, many of the crises that come upon us are the inevitable consequences of the choices we’ve made.

Then there are storms that come upon us simply as a result of …

2) FALLOUT FROM THE FALL

These have been referred to over the years as ACTS OF GOD. It’s a strange term when you stop to think that there is no record in scripture of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, or tornados in the Garden of Eden before the fall. None of these represent God’s best intentions for the world, but because of Adam and Eve’s abuse of freedom, their disobedience to God, and their defiance of his laws, one of the consequences of their sin was the infiltration of evil into the natural order. Fallout from the fall.

There is a THIRD TYPE of storm that can come upon us and these are…

3) SENT BY SATAN

The Bible makes no secret about the fact that we’re in spiritual warfare against a real enemy and it lets us know what his agenda is. John 10:10 (Jesus said) “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.”

I Peter 5:8 says “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

Some of the crises that come upon us are CONSEQUENCES FOR OUR CHOICES, some are just FALLOUT FROM THE FALL, some are SENT specifically by SATAN himself.

And others are…

4) GIFTS FROM GOD

Although it may sound strange, the reality is that any of the above three can be turned around and transformed by God into something good, if we turn it over to him.

Do you remember the story of Joseph, back in the Book of Genesis? He had suffered misunderstanding and mistreatment, false imprisonment, He’d been forgotten by his friends, and it all began when his jealous brothers threw him in a pit and sold him as a slave.

So it’s understandable that many years later when Joseph is in a position of power and authority that his brothers are scared to death of what he is going to do to them to pay them back for all the wrongs that they had done to him. And yet what did he say?

“Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.” – Genesis 50:19-20

Joseph through all of the storms that he weathered, never lost sight of God’s hand, and as a result, at the end, he could say, “You meant it for evil, but God turned it into something good.”

Although Jonah isn’t there yet, he will eventually get to that point as well. The great fish which was initially a consequence of his own choice to disobey God would ultimately become his own PERSONAL UBER to get him exactly where God wants him to be. God ARRANGED for a great fish to swallow Jonah. As we mentioned last week, a lot of people have a problem with this part of the story, but understand, what is being described here is not something natural, it’s something supernatural. It’s miraculous.

Some people have a hard time believing it. But if you believe the first words of the Bible. That “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Everything that comes after is easy. We’re talking about the one who SPOKE the universe into existence and so God dials up “Enterprise Rent-a-Fish” And God says, “Hey Fish…” The fish says, “Yes, Lord?” God says, “Go pick up Jonah. I’ll give you the GPS coordinates, and I’ll provide additional instructions as needed, but FISH, this detail is important. When you pick up Jonah, make sure you Swallow, DON’T CHEW. I’ll tell you where to drop him off.” The fish says, “Okay, Lord. You Got it” God appoints this fish and he swallows Jonah.

It’s from inside the belly of the fish that we see. . . The Choice That Jonah Made When we’re going through a storm we need to remember that in time that storm will pass, but the results of the choices we make as we weather the storm can go on to affect us long after. When we’re experiencing a storm…

WE CAN EITHER RUN TO GOD OR WE CAN RUN FROM HIM.

The crises we go through can make us better or they can make us bitter. We can increase in faith, or we can decrease in faith. We see a situation like that in the story of Jonah. We’ve been looking at his life over the past two weeks and we’ve seen that he was a man who was running away from God – when he tripped and fell.

And his fall took him to the very depths of the sea. Now it’s hard to imagine how a person can sink much lower than Jonah – finding yourself inside the belly of a fish at the bottom of the sea, but even Jonah – in the depths of despair. Even in the belly of a fish at the bottom of the sea still had options. He could reach out to God or he could keep on running away from God.

The second chapter of this book of Jonah records the story of two miracles. There is the one for which this book is most famous. Jonah being swallowed by a large fish. But there is also a second and no less amazing miracle that takes place in Jonah.

And we see that one through…

3. The Prayer He Prayed On the surface there may not seem to be anything miraculous about a prophet who prays, but you need to remember Jonah was a prophet on the run, and he was a prayer-less prophet. He had stopped praying, much like a lot of people who call themselves believers. They claim to believe in God, and yet, have virtually no prayer life, whatsoever.

I like the story of a small-town church. The pastor was very upset because a bar was opening up in this town, which up till this time had been a dry town – a town where no alcohol was served. The pastor of the church said, “We’re not gonna stand for this. We’re going to pray them out of business,” and so the church held prayer vigils, and for 24 hours at a time, the people would meet and they would pray. . . “God, please, run them out of business. Get rid of this bar,” And wouldn’t you know it, after quite some time of praying, the building that was being built to hold the bar was struck by lightning and the bar burned to the ground.

Well, the bar owner sued the church, claiming they were responsible for his loss. The church hired an attorney claiming they weren’t responsible. The judge said, “No matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear: the bar owner believes in prayer, and the church members do not.” Jonah was a prophet who should have believed in the power of prayer. . . But we don’t see him praying during the storm, Or even when he’s thrown into the sea. The first prayer we see from Jonah comes from deep inside the belly of the fish.

Take a look at what happens there in Jonah 2, verses 1 and 2 . . . “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. He said, ‘I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!” Jonah hits bottom. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Jonah had gone a long time without praying to God, and the first prayer that he prays in this book is from the belly of a fish.

The Word of God came to Jonah telling him to “Go to Nineveh” Jonah doesn’t pray about going to Nineveh He just took off in the opposite direction and got on a ship for Tarshish. He doesn’t pray about the ship. A storm threatens to destroy the ship. Jonah doesn’t pray about the storm. Now, he’s in the belly of a fish and he prays. Why? Well, what else are you going to do from the belly of a fish? I doubt he had his iPad with him. And even if he had, I’ve got the feeling that there’s not very good wifi at the bottom of the sea.

One of the reasons that I think a lot of us have a hard time praying is because we have so many other things we can do. But think about it. What is there that you can do from the belly of a fish? Not much, and so in his distress, Jonah prayed, and God heard him and he hears us.

To Whom did Jonah pray? Verse 1 told us. “To the Lord his God” Jonah prayed to God directly. Personally. . . . He didn’t have to go through another person – – Even though Jonah rebelled, he was still in a covenant relationship with God. He had a personal God. It was HIS GOD to whom he prayed.

You can’t come to God and call him “Our Father” if you have never been born into his family.

John 1:12 talks about Jesus and it says “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” It’s true that we are all God’s creation, but only those who trust in Christ become his children. Jonah could pray to his God – can you? Jonah had run a long way from God but he even though Jonah forsook the Lord, the Lord never forsook Jonah. God was still his Father.

Reminds me of what the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:13 “Even If we are faithless, God remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” Jonah was honest in his prayer. He came clean. Again, look at what he prayed beginning in verse 2, “He said, ‘I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!’ You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.’ “Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple’. I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head; I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death! As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies. But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

We could go through that prayer and deconstruct it line by line, phrase by phrase, but we won’t Instead, I want to ask you just to focus on the last verse of the prayer. How did Jonah pray? He prayed with songs of praise. If Jonah could offer a sacrifice of praise from the belly of a fish, then most likely we can offer it from whatever storm we find ourselves going through.

Interesting to note that Jonah didn’t ask to be delivered – he simply started praising God in a difficult situation and giving thanks. More often than not, when we praise God, it’s associated with the good things He has done in our lives. Yet, Jonah learned an important lesson in the belly of that fish, Jonah learned that praise brings liberation. Jonah sang a song in the dark and God delivered him. JOB did the same thing when he was stripped of his health, wealth, and family, he responded by saying “though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” And if you know his story, then you know that God restored to Job twice what he had before.

It was the same with Paul and Silas in a Philippian Jail cell. Chained to prison guards at midnight – these two men sang a song that opened prison doors. Would have been so easy for them to have cried out about the unfairness of their punishment. They hadn’t done anything to warrant it. They had left their homes for the sake of the gospel and sacrificed much. They could easily have slipped into resentment. But they didn’t.

The Bible says “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once the prison doors flew open and everybody’s chains came loose:” – Acts 16:26

Praise and Thanksgiving are the keys that unlock the door and set us free. You DON’T HAVE ANYTHING to praise God about?

Praise him NOT FOR WHAT HE GIVES YOU but for WHO HE IS.

If Paul and Silas had been like a lot of modern-day disciples we would have read that “At midnight Paul and Silas WHINED, AND WHIMPERED, AND QUESTIONED God.” But instead, like Jonah, they praised the Lord in the middle of the storm and God set them free.

The Bible says – “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

We are to give thanks in all circumstances. That doesn’t necessarily mean we are to thank God for the fish’s belly, but rather to thank God from the fish’s belly. Thanksgiving is THE PROOF OF THE REALITY OF OUR FAITH. It’s the DIFFERENCE BETWEEN those who WALK BY FAITH and those who WALK BY SIGHT. Those who walk by sight can sing songs of praise and thanksgiving only when deliverance comes. That’s not hard to do. We get a new job and we give thanks. We get a good report from a doctor, and we give thanks. But those who live by faith make the choice to live in thanksgiving even in the midst of adversity. Jonah had to hit bottom before he looked up.

There is an important little phrase in verse 9, and if you’re not careful it’s easy to overlook, Jonah said “Salvation comes from the Lord.” He realized that it’s God who delivers. As long a there are still a few strings left for us to pull, we can trace our deliverance out of storms to our own efforts. The truth is we’re not saved because we deserve to be, or because we’re good, or because we are moral, or because we are intelligent, or because we are American.

Salvation comes from the Lord. Jonah finally realized that. Inside the belly of that fish, he said “It’s out of my hands – there is nothing I can do.” He knew that if deliverance was going to come it would have to be from the Lord. God has a special way of bringing each of us to that point. He has a way, when we are rebellious, of getting us to the point where we finally have to say “Lord, it’s out of my hands, there is nothing more I can do. Deliverance has to come from you.”

I love this story because it has a happy ending. “Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.” – Jonah 2:10

Notice, Jonah did not get dropped off by an angel. The fish vomited. He lost his lunch, he tossed his cookies, he took a ride on the regurgitron… Okay? Got it? And there is Jonah on the beach, covered in Shrimp Cocktail or whatever the fish had eaten, ready for whatever God has for him. And my favorite part of this second chapter is actually the FIRST verse of the THIRD chapter…

“Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time.”

That’s where we’ll pick up the story next week. Two things I hope you’ll take from this story, particularly if you’re going through a storm, and maybe that storm is something you brought on yourself.

Number one: God is a God of Second Chances

Number two: When God disciplines us, it’s not to PAY us BACK, but to BRING us BACK.

Even when we’re FAITHLESS he remains FAITHFUL. He loves us too much to ever let us go. Let’s pray.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Do you ever struggle with sleepless nights? Judy Mandl reflects on Psalm 63:6-8 and encourages us to follow David’s example when it comes to battling insomnia.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” There’s an old saying, “It’s the thought that counts,” and while that may be true in a lot of areas, Pastor Rick reminds us that when it comes to following Jesus, the question we need to be asking ourselves is “What would Jesus DO?” not “What would Jesus THINK?”