Jonah: Running From God

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Question #1: Was Jonah even real?

He [Jesus] answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

~Matthew 6:3-40

Question #2: Have you ever found yourself running from God?

But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.

~Jonah 1:3

Question #3: Is your storm one of your own making?

Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

~Jonah 1:4

Question #4: Are you in denial (trying to sleep your way through the storm)?

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

~Jonah 1:5

Question #5: Do you and I claim to worship God while actively disobeying him?

He answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

~Jonah 1:9

Five Areas that Cause us to Run

1.     Ministry

2.     Marriage

3.     Parenting

4.     Addiction

5.     Salvation

Jonah’s Prayer

Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. 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.’

~Jonah 2:8-9

We always get back on God’s path of obedience, exactly where we got off.

And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

~ Jonah 2:10