Jonah 1:17; 2:1-2

17 Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights. 1Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. 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!

As people we long to be free, but what is freedom? Is it doing what we want, is it being the captain of our own destiny? The most terrifying aspect of Jonah’s plight is when he realizes that God almost gave him what he wanted–to be free from God. Jonah wanted to run from God, now the reality of that choice brings Jonah to repentance. He rejected God, but God didn’t reject him! Which direction are you heading in today, are you running from or to God?  Jonah returned to God, not as someone expecting special privileges, but as a rebel in need of forgiveness. In the depths of the sea he discarded his pride. The highest moment of our life is the moment when we turn to God, confessing our sins.

Our disobedience always leads us away from God onto a road of destruction. Verse 2 states that Jonah found himself in “the land of the dead” heading toward death. Death is the destination on the road of disobedience and Jonah admits that he is as good as dead, but God reached out and rescued him! God’s intention is to return Jonah back to a right relationship. So many of us have a wrong view of our heavenly Father, we think He is just waiting for us to mess up so He can punish us. Yet what we see in the life of Jonah is a God who is there to save Jonah from his disobedience. How do you respond to God’s correction? A father who loves his children doesn’t turn his back when they go astray.

Verse 1 describes the place of Jonah’s time Alone with God, in the belly of the fish. It’s an interesting place to be alone with God, not what one would choose, yet Jonah had a very secluded spot. Away from the distractions, God now had Jonah’s undivided attention.  Do you have a secluded spot where God has your attention?  So many times we want God to pay attention to us, only to ignore Him. Is your time alone with God one way is it about Him paying attention to you or are you paying attention also?

Jonah knew his situation was his fault, yet when he “called to the Lord” (vs 1), God responded. Sometimes our trials are the result of our disobedience and unlike Jonah we don’t want to admit fault, it’s easier to blame others, even God, so we don’t call out to Him.  As we go through the trials in our lives we may feel swallowed up by our circumstance, but we must remember the one who has power over our circumstances. We wonder, why am I still going through this? Why am I still in the fish? But like Jonah, we often need time to contemplate the lessons God is teaching us. Though things couldn’t seem worse, Jonah exercises hope in verse 4: “…yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.” Faith dares to approach God, even knowing that we’re sinful people undeserving of mercy, yet Faith drives us to look again. No matter your circumstances there is always hope, we can always come and get alone with God.  Are you willing to dare to hope as Jonah did are you willing to look again no matter how impossible it seems.

Jonah ends his prayer in verse 9 with these words, “For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.” The theme of the entire Bible, Salvation is a gift. A gift that is possible only because God makes it possible God chooses to reach out to people who aren’t reaching back, He accepts and entitles the undeserving. God’s love is not based on our actions but upon His, it’s not because of what we have done, but because of what He has done.

Do you feel stuck in the fish right now? What are you going to do with your time in the fish?  Are you going to focus on God or on the fish (your circumstances)? Are you going to learn what God is teaching you or just spent your time trying to get out?  Jonah uses his time to pray from his heart, it’s an honest prayer where he gets real with God. Often ours are not, we overlook the real issues that we need to be discussing, or we ignore some sin we need to confess, or we ask for things to which He has already clearly said no. Are you ready to get alone with God and get real?

Jonah 1:1-6

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 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.4 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.5 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.[a] But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.6 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.”

Have you ever wanted to run away? I think there are times in all of our lives when we just wanted to run away, from a problem or a situation or a person. We want to escape our situation so we run in an attempt to get way. But what happens when the one you are trying to get away from is God? The bible is full of people who ran away from God: Adam and Eve in the garden after disobeying God ran away and hid from his presence. Moses ran away from his God call after he killed an Egyptian soldier. The disciples ran away from the Garden of Gethsemane and abandoned their Lord. Jonah attempt to run away from God’s calling, it’s a story of disobedience, problems and prayer. Yet most of all it’s a story about second chances and returning to God. You see there are several realities we need to remember:

1. God still speaks inviting us to join Him in His work.

V. 1a “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai,”

Jonah means dove, which signifies a ’messenger’, and we’re told that he is the Son of Ammitai which means truth, Son of truth. He is a messenger of truth. Whose truth? God’s truth. That was his job as a prophet of God, to listen to the word of God and then communicate it to the people. But instead of obeying, instead of doing what God called him to do, Jonah ran away.

2. We’re not always going to like what God tells us to do.

V. 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

This is the last place on earth that Jonah thought God would send him; why would God send Jonah to preach to his enemies? Could not God have asked Jonah to do something he wanted to do? The Bible says that he went down to Joppa. He found a ship and he bought a ticket. This was a calculated decision, Jonah made a choice; when God speaks we all have a choice, a decision to make, to run to Him or away from Him. The Bible says Jonah, “found a ship.” Sometimes we justify our actions by saying, “But I found an open door.” It is a dangerous thing to try to justify our actions simply because things seem to fall into place. The truth is, anytime we want to run away from God, we’re going to be able to find a ship heading in that direction.

3. Running away from God always leads downhill.

Verse 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”

Any path that leads you away from God is downhill. We want to justify our direction by saying but I’m improving my life, look how happy I am! Things are going great, but it is downhill nevertheless. If you are headed for Tarshish when God has called to you go to Nineveh, then you’re sailing into a storm, life apart from God always gets rough!

4. Running from God involves a wakeup call.

Are you running from God?  What is your Ninevah? Has God called you to do something and you won’t answer his call? Has God asked you to witness to someone you don’t want to witness to? Are you running from something that you know God wants you to do? What boat are you on, and what are you doing on that boat? Jonah was on the wrong boat heading in the wrong direction and he was oblivious, he was sleeping his time away. But that’s when he got the wakeup call, a call to a new direction, a direction of obedience. God used the captain of the ship to get Jonah’s attention with the works “Arise call on your God” it was a call to get alone with God. Are you in the hold of the wrong ship, experiencing the storm of your own decisions? Listen to the captain. WAKE UP! Is it time to get alone with God?