
Jonah
You’re not fast enough
Jonah 1:1-3, 2:7-10, 4:2
Bottom Line: You can’t outrun God
We run from things in our life because of control, hurt, fear of uncertainty, and not being good enough.
God gives us clear instructions, yet we still choose to run in the other direction
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.” 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. —Jonah 1:1-3
I imagine he felt like he was too far gone from God - there was no way God could save him now
What is your rock bottom moment?
7 When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. 9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” 10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” —Jonah 2:7-10
Jonah did the bare minimum
But God still used him - through him, in spite of him
He didn’t want things to change
You can try to run from God, but you are not fast enough
Even through Jonah’s bad attitude, anger, and selfishness, Go still chose to use him. God still chose to run after him
2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? This is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending a calamity. —Jonah 4:2
Bottom Line: You can’t outrun God
Regardless of your mistakes, God will always choose to run after you
We are so much like Jonah
We are selfish, prideful, we want control
God is selfless, humble, compassionate
Wouldn’t life be easier if we just listened to God the first time?
- Maybe you think that running is the better option or avoiding God is the better option, but we see where that got Jonah.
- Maybe you think you’re too far gone from God and there’s no way he’s running after you because of your mistakes.
- Maybe you’re not even sure that God loves you enough to keep running after you.
Jesus is our evidence that he does!
But just like Jonah, regardless of your mistakes, God will still be running after you.