When Your Plans Do Not Coincide With God's Plans
Stop Running Away from God • Sermon • Submitted
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HOOK
HOOK
LORD’S SUPPER
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.
It has been a beautiful month-long journey with Jonah [The Running Prophet]— and we have learned so many things from him so far
Remember that I always tell you that whenever you’re reading the Word of God, one of the things that you should pay careful attention to are examples— good examples to follow and bad examples to avoid— and from Jonah we learned several lessons from both his good and bad examples
When he ran away from God, we learned the possible cost [consequences] if we do the same— we learned that running away from God can cost us Physical pain, Relational brokenness, Financial trouble and Emotional stress
But when he admitted his fault and swam back to the Father— we saw good examples worthy to emulate
That when we run to the Father, our lives calms down— that even unbelievers in, and around our lives may come to believe in God when they see us running towards, and not away from Him
They’d love to have the positivity, confidence, courage, passion, excitement, and all the nice things that you have because of your relationship with Jesus
They’d admire your unconditional love, your joy, peace, patience, kindness, your goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control— these are all fruits of the Holy Spirit, and when they see those in you— they’d love to have those too
And that when we run to God— The Father shows us mercy [compassion]
When under God’s mercy, Jonah’s examples are also worthy for us to imitate
While under God’s grace, Jonah taught us to be confident when we pray to the Father
One of the great things that we learned from the life of Jonah is acceptance and confession— accept your circumstances and tell them to God
Jonah did not just displayed confidence in his prayers— he also claimed and celebrated the things he prayed for confidently, even before the Father answered his prayers
As a result of all that Jonah did— God gave him a second chance, and he grabbed it!— When God gives you a second chance, grab it!
God is a the God of second chances!— When God says go, I said where!— Because just like Jonah— our obedience could change peoples lives
Now there’s more to learn from Jonah— What is that?— You gain biblical truths that helps you understand When Your Plans Do Not Coincide With God's Plans
And this happens a lot of times if not for the most part of your life— very often we end up realizing that our plans does not coincide with His
And there are certain biblical truths that we need to know— biblical truth that will give us wisdom— wisdom to know the difference between courage and acceptance
Wisdom to know when to courageously pursue our plans— and wisdom to accept when we realized that our plans do not coincide with God’s plan— By the way, His is way better than ours
Life is full of interruptions— sometimes we have big plans for ourselves— career, family, ministry and even personal plans— but then God takes our lives towards a different direction
When our plans for ourselves do not coincide with God’s plans for us— we often kick the bucket as expression of frustration— and then things just get worse
Look at Jonah— he learned the hard way how to respond when his plans did not coincide with God’s plans
God told Jonah to warn the people of Nineveh that they needed to repent from their evil ways. But Jonah ran from God and ended up in the belly of a big fish, so God had to rescue him.
You’ve seen what Jonah did when he was under God’s mercy— and because of what he had done— God gave him a second chance and he grabbed it!
Jonah then did what God had told him to do, but when the people of Nineveh repented and God didn’t punish them, the prophet was extremely disappointed
So God gave Jonah an object lesson. God caused a plant to grow large enough to give Jonah shade.
Then he sent a worm to attack the plant and kill it. The next day, as the sun beat down on Jonah’s head, he expressed his frustration to God.
It is very typical of us to criticize and complain— criticize and complain to God when things do not go our way
So when Jonah started expressing his frustrations, and complains, and even anger— That’s when God reminded him and us, of the four truths to remember when God’s plans differ from ours
Let see what are those four biblical truths— open your Bible to the last chapter 4 of the book of Jonah
BOOK
BOOK
1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That 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 calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” 5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.” 10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
What was going here?
WHAT: Jonah’s disappointment when God did not punish the Ninevites
WHERE: East of the City of Nineveh— just outside of it
WHEN: After Jonah came back to God and obeyed his command to go to Nineveh
WHO: God and Jonah
WHY: God was teaching Jonah a life lesson when his plans did not coincide with God’s plans
Let’s take a closer look— Jonah was upset when God did punish the Ninevites
LOOK
LOOK
BUT TO JONAH THIS SEEMED VERY WRONG, AND HE BECAME ANGRY
What seems to be wrong for Jonah is not actually the case for God— but Jonah became angry anyway
Despite of his anguish— he manages to talk to the Lord in prayer and even said that..
YOU ARE A GRACIOUS AND COMPASSIONATE GOD
Our God is not just gracious, He is also compassionate
SLOW TO ANGER AND ABOUNDING IN LOVE
in other words patient and loving God
THEN THE LORD PROVIDED A LEAFY PLANT
To give him shade— in other words it is God that gives us comfort
GOD PROVIDED WORM, WHICH CHEWED THE PLANT
While God provides us comfort— He may also take that comfort away from us
For Jonah, and maybe for some of us— they think that it would be better to die— just a little bit of discomfort but then Jonah would rather die, he said..
IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR ME TO DIE THAN TO LIVE
Seriously! When God gives us comfort, we ‘re very happy— but when he takes that comfort from us, we’d rather die?
God did all these because He was making a case for Jonah— He is teaching him valued lessons to understand life, specially when our plans do not coincide with his plans— take a listen to what God told Jonah
YOU HAVE BEEN CONCERNED ABOUT THIS PLANT
A plant that you did not even tend to, or have done anything to make it grow
God made us of this plant to teach Jonah a lesson about being “concerned”, about being compassionate, about being slow to anger, about being abounding in love
So God asked him...
SHOULD I NOT HAVE CONCERN FOR THE GREAT CITY OF NINEVEH?
In which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right from their left— in other words “lost”, or disoriented
People who cannot differentiate right from wrong
To tie these up— God was saying to Jonah— if you care about something that you do not even tend to [care about], how much more that God must be concerned for the people [and animals] that He himself had created
Do You See Some of Your Behaviors in Jonah?
An attitude that is classical to many [even believers] is to criticize and complain— specially when our plans do not coincide with God’s plans
Complaining means to express ingratitude or discontent in an unjustified way
It is our common tendencies to do things our way— stubborn that we are, we insist on our plans— as if like we know better than God— creation never knew better thank its creator!
Like Stephanie Striley and Damien— You’ve seen their life testimonies— they insisted on their plans until they came to their senses, and Stephanie received God’s mercy while Damien grabbed his second chance given by God
I also have tons of stories to share about my old behaviors— as an achiever, I am very good at insisting on my plans over God’s better plans for me— what about you?
What do you do when your plans do not coincide with God’s plans?
Before you answer that question— listen first to these (4) four biblical truths to remember specially when your plans do not coincide with God’s plans
FOUR BIBLICAL TRUTHS TO REMEMBER
TOOK
TOOK
GOD CAN SEE THINGS THAT I CANNOT SEE
He can see the past and the present and the future all at the same time. He created time, so he is not subject to time.
24 for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.
GOD IS GOOD TO ME EVEN WHEN I AM CRANKY
You may have been going the opposite direction from God, and he still covers you with shade. God cares about your comfort because that’s the kind of God he is. He loves you even when you’re unlovable.
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
GOD IS IN CONTROL OF EVERY DETAIL OF MY LIFE
Your plans don’t fail randomly. God has a purpose in everything in your life. Jonah shows us that God uses both the big (a large fish) and the small (a worm) to direct our lives, but he is in control of it all.
21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
GOD WANTS ME TO FOCUS ON WHAT WILL LAST
Most of what worries you won’t be around tomorrow.
God wanted Jonah to care about the salvation of the people of Nineveh, not a plant that would die the next day.
Above all else, focus on getting God’s Word into your heart and bringing people into his family.
18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Just because your plans aren’t turning out the way you want doesn’t mean God isn’t intimately involved in every step.
Ask God to help you see his hand in your broken plans, and trust him in his goodness as he shows you the way forward.
CHALLENGE
CHALLENGE
We are broken vessels— insisting on our plans even though we are convinced by faith that they are not God’s plans for us— is a waste of your God-given precious time
Give it up to God! Always remember..
That God sees that that you cannot
That God is good to you even when you are cranky
That God is in control of every detail of your life
And that God wants you to focus on that things that will last