What Happens When We Go Our Own Way Sept, 7 2008 2nd sermon in series

What Happens When We Go Our Own Way?

Jonah 1:4-17

Sept. 7th, 2008

Introduction:

Ø  Suppose that you have a choice to make.  There are two directions open to you.   You need to decide which direction to take.

Ø  One direction is God’s choice, the Bible is clear on this, the direction of the Holy Spirit is clear and you know that this is the will of God for your life.

o   Yet as you look down the path- it won’t work, you won’t get what you want.

Ø  The other path- God would not want you to do this but… as you see down this path it will work; you will get what you want.

Ø  There were two paths standing before Jonah

o   God’s way- to go to Nineveh and preach to the Ninevites

o   Jonah’s way- to go anywhere else but Nineveh

o   Jonah chose to go his way rather than God’s way. 

Ø  What happens when we choose to go our own way?

1.       We lose sight of the will of God- Jonah fell asleep.

2.       Our disobedience will often cause pain to us and those around us. (Sailors, David, Saul, Jacob, Samson, Abraham)

3.       God plans for us do not cease. (Mercy, grace)

I)        We lose sight of the will of God.

A)     As soon as Jonah goes below deck he falls into a deep sleep.

1)      As far as he is concerned there are other prophets in Israel that God can choose in his place.

2)      The will of God for Jonah was the most important issue; God had a plan for Jonah.

3)      Jonah ignored the will of God in favor of his own will.

(a)    The real struggle here was not obedience but His love for the Lord.

B)      When we choose to go our own way it often become easier and easier to tune out the Lord’s voice.

1)      Saul was a man whom God chose to be king over Israel.  But no king was ever allowed to do things his way.  He was to get his direction from the Lord.

2)      Early on in Saul’s reign he makes the decision to go his way rather than God’s way.

(a)    The interesting thing is that these decisions were just small ones at the start. In one instance it was simply telling the truth.

C)      One thing that needs to be kept in mind is that God’s plan for our lives does not end with our disobedience.

Transitional Statement: Yet in tuning out the Lord Jonah also put himself and those around him in a very dangerous position.

II)      Our disobedience will often cause pain to us and those around us. (v. 4-11)

A)     While Jonah was asleep God was at work seeking to draw Jonah back to Himself. (What is God doing in your life, to draw you back to Him?)

B)      God hurled (lit.) a great wind, which caused a violent storm, so violent in fact that the sailors were afraid.

1)      The sailors threw the cargo into the sea- While this was a necessity it was probably very costly to them.

C)      It is interesting what the captain says to Jonah, “How can you sleep?  Get up and call on your God!  Maybe he will take notice of us and we will not perish.”

1)      God had taken notice of them; they were never out of His sight.

2)      Even in this time God was with them revealing Himself to them.

D)     The sailors then begin to ask the question “who is the cause of this storm?”

1)      When the lot falls to Jonah He tells them about whom he is and who his God is.

(a)    He is a Hebrew.

(b)   He is a worshipper of the LORD.

(i)      The God of the heaven who made the sea and the land.

E)      The sailors seem to grasp the gravity of the situation.

1)      What have you done?  How could you run away from such a God?

2)      What do we need to do to you to make the sea calm down?

F)      Throw me into the sea- (Huge admission “ I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

1)      This is the first time that Jonah does the right thing.

2)      When we finally stop running and face up to the reality of why I have the problems that I have.  They are not someone else’s fault they are mine.

G)     When the sailors hear what they are to do with Jonah they try to do their way instead. To row back to shore, but God prevented them from doing so, why?

1)      If Jonah would have gotten back to land would he have just continued to run?

2)      If they would have gotten back to land the sailors would not have seen the glory of God.

(a)    They would never forget this storm, in fact the text seems to point out that they made some sort of commitment to the Lord. (v. 16)

3)      This is the mercy and grace of God shining in the midst of a difficult time.  God uses this storm to not only get Jonah’s attention but to also reveal  Himself to these sailors.

H)     When the sailors throw Jonah overboard they were probably thinking that they had killed Jonah, after all when somebody went overboard the chances of them living were quite slim.

1)      Jonah probably thought that this was the end as well.

Yet as we see…

III)    God plans for us do not cease.  (v. 17)

A)     God provided a great fish to swallow Jonah.

1)      God could have allowed Jonah to die, but He still had something for Him to do.

2)      He still wanted to use Jonah to give His message to the people of Nineveh. 

B)      Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: Go

1)      God didn’t have to give Jonah a second chance but He did, that’s His grace and mercy.

2)      God’s plans for your life don’t end and didn’t end when we chose to go our own way. 

3)      If like Jonah we are willing to admit that we have gone our way and return to God to do what He desires.

4)      The neat thing is that God can use us again.