When we hear Jonah and the… (Whale)
- Use to love this story as a kid
- Seems so awesome that He lived
- What was he doing for three days
This is a story about Revival
- Depending on your background, that word either makes you excited or nervous
Revival: An Awakening to God and His kingdom that leads people to salvation
- Revival always starts with God and God choosing someone to work through.
God always works through people.
- Revival has often prayed “God do Something,” but it should be “Lord use me!”
Jonah 1
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
Who is Jonah?
- Was a Prophet in the time of the Israel King Jeroboam II
God lead Jonah to go to a city called Nineveh
- God wanted to bring “Revival” to the city of Nineveh
What and Where was Nineveh
- The capital city of Assyria
- Known for their great wickedness and cruelty
So without any further context, we should immediately understand that this was not a normal call nor a COMFORTABLE one.
Jonah 1
3 But Jonah… ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
When I was told this story as a kid, Bad Jonah for not Obeying
- Not that Simples
What if I asked you to go to a bar full of the roughest people you can think of…
- Really rough
- Known to be violent
- Also your sworn enemies
…And say…
- How you live your life is wrong
- All your decisions are wrong
- God is going to judge you if you don’t listen to me
Are you going to sign up for that?
- NO!
- Because you value your life and well being
Nineveh was the capital city of Israel’s sworn enemies
- They were ruthless
- Had a history of war with Israel
- The city was massive (3 days to cross)
- Stood against everything Jonah and his people were for
Jonah hears what God says and decides to go the other way – LITERALLY.
Head to Joppa and gets on a boat, and head to Tarshish
- He didn’t need a boat to get to Nineveh
Jonah didn’t just try to run from God; He was going to the other side of the world
- 2500 miles away from his calling
Jonah’s reaction is the MOST LOGICAL reaction
- Fear – massive, powerful city
- Enemies of Israel
But we don’t get to chose who God saves
– We don’t get to choose who he sends us to
We want the COMFORT CALLING*
Comfort Calling: Asking God to use us in a way that WE see fit
- If you help me get wealthily… Then I’ll be more generous.
- If you help me be popular… Then I’ll tell others about you.
- If you keep me safe… I’ll put my trust in you.
- If you send me people I like… I’ll show them your love.
God, Use me is a way that I see fit, and I will be faithful in serving you.
But going to Nineveh was not a comfort calling
Revival will never follow a Comfort calling, but it will follow a GOD calling
The biggest obstacle to obedience and Revival is comfort.
►►So Jonah RUNS…
►Do you know what running does?
- Running TEMPORARILY removes the stress of not following God
- It also convinces you that you have outrun the consequences
But it also…
- It makes it where you can’t stand to be around people who aren’t running
Examples of Not running
Marriage – God is calling you to “Nineveh” in your marriage
- Love more than every
- Forgive first
- Don’t speak harshly
Giving – Go to Nineveh
- Gonna save
- Going to be generous
Loving Others
- Put them above yourself
- Go out of your way to serve those who frustrate you
Running doesn’t always look like running
– Jonah looked like he was going on a trip
– No one but him knew what was really going on
Let’s make this practical by asking this question and remembering…
The biggest obstacle to obedience and Revival is comfort.
Big Question?
What are you comfortable with that God is not?
– What are you watching
– What are you taking part in?
– What thoughts are you entertaining
– What corners are you willing to cut
– How are you talking to others
– How are you talking about others
You can ALWAYS find a boat sailing in the wrong direction
- Social media feeds this – Gives us more of what we want to hear
- Wrong friends feed this – Encourage you to keep running
- Even in the church – Comfortable vs convicted to change
Jonah 1
4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own God. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
►►Remember this: God will do whatever it takes to get our attention
- That may mean allowing storms to come into our life
It should strike us that everybody on the ship was calling out to God, or a God EXCEPT Jonah
- The captain and the crew had more faith that the Prophet of God did because he was RUNNING
When we are running from God to our own “COMFORT CALLING” it makes us stubborn and hard-hearted.
But it is time to WAKE UP to God’s agenda for you and for us
- Running don’t just cause a storm for you, but those around you
The world is in a storm right now
- We are in need of Revival
Revival: An Awakening to God and His kingdom that leads people to salvation
I’m asking all of you, all of us to WAKE UP
- Stop pursuing the “Comfort Calling” you want and pursue what God wants
I’m asking all of you to stop running FROM God and To God
- To His plan and calling for you
If you want to see God move, then ask Him to move IN YOU.