He Knows Where I Am - Jonah

HE KNOWS WHERE I AM

JONAH

Jonah 1:1-4

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

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

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.

But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

Genesis 10:12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.

Nineveh was "great" in respect to its sin.

Nineveh was the perfect place for God to display the wonder of His grace and mercy.

He wanted to spare a city that couldn’t discern right from wrong.

Sometimes the greatest of sinners is whom God can save.

Did you notice when Jonah ran from God’s call that he "paid the fare"?

Learn a lesson from this prophet.

When you run from God’s call you will always "pay the fare.”

Sin will take you farther than you want to go.

Sin will leave you longer than you want to stay.

Sin will cost you far more than you want to pay.

1:3 He went down to Joppa…so he paid the fare and went down into it.

Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship

When we run away from God it always leads downward!

Sometimes when you run from God it is because God has asked you to do something and we fail.

Out of my comfort zone.

Doesn’t make sense.

Failure can get in the way of our desires

Peter and other disciples said they wouldn’t deny Jesus—all did.

Sometimes it’s easy to talk about people in the Bible who failed but you think you will never fail.

Adam had everything. He had it made and everything was going fine and then he wanted more.  He wanted to be like God.

Elijah came against 450 prophets of Baal in I Kings 18 but Jezebel was going to kill him so he went and hid.

With Jonah, God told Jonah to go tell wicked people they need to repent.  He was like, “Not me I’m out of here.”

Peter was sitting by the fire in Matthew 26:69 when a damsel came up and said, “You were also with Jesus.” He was afraid of what would happen to him.

They were all afraid

Stop hiding and acknowledge God’s direction even when it cost you everything.

Notice God’s attention methods

With Adam - Walking in the garden.

With Elijah - Why are you here?

With Jonah it was a Storm and they threw Jonah in the water where he remained in the great fish three days.

When Peter was walking on the water and began to sink…Peter looked at Jesus.

God lets things happen to get our attention.

Notice where it leads when we surrender our life to God!

2:6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.

But Jonah arose to flee…..But the LORD

For every action we have, God has a reaction

Psalm 139:7-8 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

You need to let God use you!

God knows where you are…what you are doing…He will not let you sit comfortably in your hiding place.

God used Adam to populate the earth.

Through Elijah, God did great things and showed him that he was not alone in the fight.

With Jonah, He saved others from God’s wrath and showed that He can save the evilest people.

Peter became a great leader.  He was the rock.  He could stand on his faith in Jesus.

Jeremiah 20:9 Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.

Is this how you felt when you were running from God?

Have any of you ever been in a backslidden condition?

What has He called you to do?

Maybe He has called your name to save you from your sins?

And if He has called your name to save you He has called you to serve Him!!!

Now there are different ways and different places to serve Him…

God uses your personality, your past, the influences you’ve had in your life, and your talents and He uses you at the place you work, the place you live, and the places you visit.

CLOSING

At the end of this story, it ends like no other story found in the bible.

It ends with God rebuking Jonah for his lack of love and mercy toward others and we don’t know how Jonah responded to God’s rebuke.

So the question is how will you respond to God’s calling for your life?

You can say, "Yes" to God’s call for your life, or you can say, “No."

Jonah finally did what God asked him to do, but instead of rejoicing in what God was doing, he got angry about how it turned out!

Maybe this morning you have an issue with what God has called you to do, or maybe it hasn’t turned out like you thought it should have….As the old song goes, (Tell It To Jesus)

Maybe You should ask God to give you a love for the assignment He has for you!