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Run: Why You Don't Want to Run from God
April 18, 2024 · 39 min
The talk highlights not fleeing from God's plan and the impact it can have on individuals and those around them. Forgiveness and repentance are also discussed and how to return to God's path.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton April 18, 2024 · 39 min · "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton
The talk highlights not fleeing from God's plan and the impact it can have on individuals and those around them. Forgiveness and repentance are also discussed and how to return to God's path. ...more Show the full description Show less The talk highlights not fleeing from God's plan and the impact it can have on individuals and those around them. Forgiveness and repentance are also discussed and how to return to God's path.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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Running from God: Lessons from Jonah 0:00 Glad you're in God's house today? Amen. Oh, come on. Y'all can do better than that. Are you glad you're in God's house today? Amen. I love that. Last week, we began a brand new series,0:12 entitled Run With Purpose. And we looked last week at the idea of don't ever run from your calling. Man, God has called each and every 1 of you, in this room, each and every 1 of us online,0:25 to a specific calling. God wants, has a race for us to run. So today I want to talk to you about something as we continue to journey through the book of Jonah, is don't run from God. Man,0:37 don't run from God. And let's be honest, everybody in the room has done it. We've all run from God. How many of you admit there have been seasons that you know God has spoken to you and you've run from what God wants for0:48 you? We're all there. Now, the beautiful thing is, we don't have to own up to our own stuff today when we talk about running from God. We get to look at a guy named Jonah. Alright? This guy named Jonah, he did it1:00 all wrong. If you think about all the prophets in the Bible, here's what we know. Jonah was probably the worst prophet there ever was. He was a lousy prophet. We don't ever really1:12 see anything redeeming about him. Jonah is the 1 prophet in the bible that he's known more by what he does than what he says. He's truly the only prophet that actually1:23 runs from God. Other prophets run away from problems or difficulties or hardships, but he is the only prophet that actually runs from God and thinks he can get away.1:35 Jonah is the only prophet that never repents. There are times in God's word where we see people who are disobedient to God, but they always turn back in repentance.1:47 Jonah never does. The 1 thing we never see from beginning to end in Jonah, in this book of Jonah, is we never see joy in Jonah's life. And, even when he goes to Nineveh and1:59 preaches and it says, the entire city repents, Jonah gets angrier and sadder. Man, what an incredible thought that Jonah2:10 doesn't have a relationship with God, that he can see people with God's eyes. And he doesn't have a relationship with God, so he develops a heart that God has for other people. You know, if if you look in the2:22 new testament, anything in the old testament, we see a lot of things. We see a guy in the old testament named Enoch. What are we told about Enoch's relationship with God? It says,2:34 Enoch walked with God. Man, I'll tell you as as your pastor, that is my greatest desire, is that I would walk with God. As a congregation, that is2:46 my greatest desire, is that we would learn and develop, the habits that would allow us to walk with God. Abraham, although he wasn't perfect, we are told that Abraham was a friend2:58 of God. How many of you would like to be God's friends? And those are the kind of relationships we have. You know, then there are other people that maybe you feel like you're a bit of an outsider. Don't ever forget about3:09 a lady named Ruth. She was a Moabite from a foreign land, but made her way back to God's people in God's land, and ultimately ended up in the line and the3:21 lineage of Jesus himself. Or maybe it's not that you've made your way back to the land. Maybe you feel like, man I'm out of place. That I feel like God has called3:32 me here, but man I'm over here and I want to be back there. Then I would encourage you, Be like Esther. Remember the story of Esther, she found herself in a Persian empire,3:44 not not in a Jewish empire, with a with a pagan king, not a not a godly king, and in a place that she didn't wanna be, but it still says Esther was3:56 used by God. And so, in light of that, you go to the new testament. In the new testament, we are told that we can have fellowship with4:08 God. That we can truly, through God's spirit, be friends with God. We can have fellowship with God.4:20 But so many of us choose not to. That's why we have the daily devotions and your ongoing Bible reading that we want. We want you to develop an ongoing relationship with God. We want you to be a friend with God. We want4:31 you to be where God wants you to be, doing what God has called you to do. I love what it says in the New Testament, that regardless of where you are4:43 or regardless of how you feel as to where you are, we all get the opportunity, the writer of the book Hebrews says, to draw near to God.4:56 How many of you would like to draw near to God today? Man, I would, in my heartbeat. And so, let's dive back into this prophet. It's He he he's a bad prophet. He's a lousy prophet, but we're gonna learn a lot from him.5:07 Listen to this, Jonah chapter 1 verse 1 says, the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittite. And it says, go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it. That's his command. Alright, Jonah,5:19 leave here, go 500 miles to the east, go preach against Nineveh. That's your call. That's all you have to do. Because it's wickedness has come up before me. But, Jonah ran away in the absolute opposite5:31 direction from the Lord and headed to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa where he found a ship bound for that port after paying the fare. Now listen, don't ever, don't5:43 ever assume because there's a ticket on the boat that is going in the right direction. I think there are a lot of times that people say, well you know, God, God allowed me to get this job, or God opened this door, God5:54 did Don't ever assume because you can get on the boat that it's going in the right direction. We don't ever want to do that. So notice what it says. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed to Tarshish to flee6:06 from the Lord. I don't know if you saw this story thinking about, we know what, if you're familiar at all with the story, you know he's about to go into a storm. How many of you know that? I I don't know if you just saw.6:16 This week, there was an incredible rescue out in the Pacific Ocean. Anybody see the story? Back on Easter Sunday morning, alright, 3 guys go fishing6:28 out in the Pacific Ocean. Alright? About halfway between Australia and Hawaii in a 20 foot open skiff with an outboard6:40 motor. Which proves a point I've always believed. If you let 1 guy stay6:51 isolated and alone, there's a high chance he's going to do something stupid. How many of you know? If you put 3 guys together, where they7:03 just are friends, they are 3 times as likely to do something stupid. So, they leave Easter and they go out, they're gonna go fishing and guess what? You're in the middle of the Pacific7:15 Ocean. And, swells overwhelm them. And, their boat gets broken and their outboard motor gets thrown off. And so, really they had been looking for7:27 them since Easter. This week, they found them. They were on a little bitty island that I can't even say the name of and you say, pastor,7:39 how did they find them? Well, they didn't have a radio. They have a radar. So, what they did is they took palm branches and they7:50 spelled the word help out. We've got a picture of it. This is actual picture. Alright? Yeah. Help us from ourselves.8:03 Help us never to do this again. But you say, pastor, why would you say that? I thought it was so appropriate that as I'm preaching about a shipwreck,8:15 and a guy that is heading the wrong direction in the middle of the water, that this illustration comes up. So maybe there's some here today that your8:27 main goal is to leave this place looking to God for help. Thought there was something interesting about this island.8:40 If you go look it up, back in August of 20 23 other guys got stranded on the same island8:53 after having a broken boat and they got off by spelling s o s. So the point9:06 is, we need to understand there are places we don't need to go and things we don't need to do. But if you're in a place you don't need to be and you're doing things you9:18 don't need to do, the best thing you can do is say help. God, help me. I love what, Solomon said in Proverbs chapter 299:30 verse 1. He says, whoever remains stiff necked after many rebukes, will suddenly be destroyed. So wherever you are in your own season in9:41 life, if you're running from God, if you're disobedient from God, I want to encourage you, soften your heart. Understand that God's greatest heartbeat, his greatest desire, is not to9:53 bring consequences in your life, but instead to bring grace in your life, to bring love, to bring purpose in your life. But there is a reality10:05 that if you continue to say no to God over and over and over again, God will allow the consequences to come your way. Look at Proverbs chapter 28 verse 13. Says,10:17 whoever conceals their sins does not prosper. Man, even if others don't know, if you are concealing a secret10:29 sin, you know. How many of you know that? And, you are living in a guilt that will sap you of joy, it will not allow you, to really see God's blessings and grace in your life. So it says, whoever10:41 conceals their sins does not prosper. But the 1 who confesses them and renounces them ultimately finds mercy. Man, let's be that guy.10:54 Let's be that lady. The 1 that doesn't sit here and act like we're perfect or hide a secret sin because we know what. We won't prosper in that way, but instead, let us find the right people that we would11:06 share what we are going through and ask for help and and and be encouraged to walk with God and have fellowship with God and get on the right boat instead of the wrong boat, headed in the right direction instead of the11:16 wrong direction. Why? Because that's where God's blessings are. You say, alright, pastor. If I'm gonna confess11:28 my sin or if someone comes to me today and confesses their sin, how do I respond? Even if it's something I I don't approve of. How should I respond11:40 to someone else's sin? I love what Paul says. Look at it. Galatians chapter 6 verse 1. He says, brothers and sisters, if someone, anyone is caught in11:52 a sin, you who live by the spirit should restore that person gently. So if there's someone here today that12:05 in your life or in your conversation or perhaps in your words at lunch or or or or this evening or later in the week, that you somehow, someway spell out help12:17 or SOS to those in your life, or those in your life group, or those you're surrounded by. If you are the person who is receiving that confession,12:28 do exactly what Paul says. Set about to restore them gently. Help them get back on the right path. Your12:40 job isn't to go and start texting or calling and say, you're never gonna guess what they just told me.12:53 Instead, you say, no. No. No. Man, thanks for sharing. Thanks for letting me know. I'm here for you. So as you think about Jonah, and we're thinking about he's13:05 on the wrong boat, he's headed the wrong direction, you say, Pastor, if I am caught on the wrong boat, and I'm headed in the wrong direction, and I am bound for, an island that is ultimately13:17 gonna, make me a castaway, what should I do? Let me just encourage you. Stop running from God. Stop running from God. What13:28 Jonah has ultimately, we're gonna see here in a second, an abrupt stop, where, man, he can't run anymore. And and then after you stop running from God, just admit,13:41 God, I'm unworthy. I've broken your commandments. I've done this. I've done that. And and even admit your sin and your struggle to the proper people. You don't have to broadcast it13:52 and put it on social media. Just say, listen, here's where I failed, here's who who I've struggled, here's how I've harmed you or hurt you. Then start developing those disciplines14:04 of of being faithful in worship, being around God's people, being faithful in reading your Bible, being faithful in prayer, because let me tell you what, when you develop those disciplines, oftentimes those sins will14:16 fall away. You won't become perfect. And then finally, man, get with God's people. Man, you want to surround yourself with the right people. In other words,14:30 don't get back in the boat with the guys that took you out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in a 20 foot open, open foot, open skiff. Get in the boat with14:41 people who are gonna take you in the right direction and lead you in the right way. And then, I'm gonna encourage you with this. Not only develop the disciplines, worship, Bible study, getting with God's14:53 people, start serving. You realize if you look through the Bible, the bible is filled with stories of broken men and broken15:05 women who God took, called them into ministry, and used them to serve in spite of their brokenness. Does that make sense? See, I think there are a lot of times that we ask for forgiveness and we15:17 we say, God, you know, I'm sorry I shouldn't have done this, but we then don't think that God can use us for service. Can I tell you that is so wrong? I wanna encourage you to get15:28 involved in serving somewhere. Man, part of it is, is we wanna be active in our faith, moving forward in our faith, serving with other people in our faith. Why? Because that develops these15:40 habits, these guardrails for us to move and journey through. So, as we just walk through this story, and this is what I wanna do. I I just wanted today walk you through this story,15:52 and just as we journey through this story, give you some simple principles as to why you and I don't want to run from God. Alright? I'm just going to walk through, we'll read it. But thought16:04 number 1 is this, why you don't want to run from God. God will send storms to shake you up. If you're on the run from God, I want you to know God16:15 will send storms to shake you up. Let's just read it. It says, then, he's bought the ticket, he's on the boat. Then the Lord sent what? They If you might want to just say, if you look that word sent,16:27 it's the word hurled. It it means that God sent this storm. This wasn't an accidental storm. Matter of fact, the same Hebrew word God hurled this storm at him, is the 1, if you16:39 remember Saul and David's relationship, Saul and David's David always loved Saul, but Saul oftentimes tried to kill him. There was a time when when David was in the room with Saul, and it says, Saul hurled16:51 a spirit, David. Same Hebrew word. And so, here it is. It says, God hurled a storm, or sent a storm, and a great wind on the sea, and such a violent17:03 storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and cried out to their gods. Now notice, here you have the pagans that are17:15 praying. And if you think about the Let me tell you what. I've never been a sailor and I'm not a son of a sailor, but I can tell you, sailors have to be salty people. How many of you know that? I mean,17:26 they know we're gonna get on a ship, we're gonna go in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of whatever, and I know there's going to be storms. And, and let me tell you what, they don't get fearful often.17:38 But, something happened in this setting, this unique storm that was sent by God, it was hurled at them by God, shook them up so much so, it says they were afraid,17:50 fearful. If you can get a sailor fearful, that's not a good thing. And then it says they cried out to the Lord. You say, pastor, why would these pagans pray?18:02 Can I tell you? In my opinion, if you go back to Genesis chapter 1, whether someone's a Christian or not a Christian, whether they're in church or not in18:14 church, they were all created in the image of God. And so, it should not shock us that even people that are that are afar from the faith in these seasons of fear18:26 begin to cry out to their creator. And so, these guys, and I'll tell you, they're praying to their own gods. They were praying to the sun god, and the moon god, and the water god, and whatever god they were18:38 from. But here, it doesn't say they were praying to Yahweh, the God, they were just crying out to any god. Which is what people do in hard circumstances, difficult circumstances. So it says, they cried18:49 out to his own god, and listen, they started to throw the cargo over into the sea to lighten up the ship. So so a couple of thoughts. Why you don't want to19:01 run from God? 1, God is going to send a storm to shake you up. Number 2, it's going to be costly. You notice19:13 what it says, they started throwing the cargo into the sea. It cost them all something. Here's another thought.19:27 There are times that I go through a storm that God sends my way because of my sin, but there are19:38 also times that we collectively go through storms because of someone else's sin. Do you hear that? The sailors didn't19:50 cause this. There might be a lady in the room that you are going through a storm because of someone else's sin.20:04 There might be a man in the room that you are going through a storm because of someone else's sins. Might be some kids in the room that are going through a storm because of your parents' sin20:16 or the reverse of that. Might be a friend, family. Here's the reality. These sailors found themselves in the midst of a storm and it wasn't20:28 their storm. So the encouragement for you is if you're in a space and a place that you are in a storm because of someone you love and20:40 their sin, secret or not, can I just encourage you to do even what these pagans did? Cry out not to your own God,20:52 but the 1 true God. That God would shake that person up. That God would embrace that person. That God would love that person back into the fold. So thought number21:04 1 is God will send a storm. Here's thought number 2. God will use others to wake you up. God will use others to wake you up. Man, that storm, if it doesn't wake you up, notice21:16 others will. Look at it, Jonah chapter 1 verse 5. Might use family, might use friends, might use strangers. God uses a lot of things, but here is verse 5. But Jonah had gone down or below deck,21:28 where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. That Hebrew word can be, translated coma. There there are some, psychologists, theological21:39 psychologists who who think that Jonah actually was, had a depressive nature. That that maybe that's why he was able to go below the ship and and move into almost such a deep sleep that he21:51 didn't even know there was a storm. Some people believe that he had depression. And and what you see here, if you think about it, if you were to step back and and say, well, maybe he did have depression, it kinda makes22:02 sense that he didn't follow God, he ran from God, even in the midst of his sin. We're gonna see this in a few minutes as we just continue to read the story. If he was22:14 depressed, when they finally say, what should we do? His response is throw me into the sea. Hey, FYI, there are better options. How many of you know?22:26 And so, here's my encouragement to you in person or online. If you were here today and you were depressed, can I show you through Jonah that if you're going through that season and you22:38 see no end in sight except for somehow, someway going in to the water? God can still use you, even22:50 if you're depressed. Even if you don't see better options, God has better options. That's what we see. So here it is. It says, but23:02 Jonah had gone below deck where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went, went to him and said, hey, how can you sleep? Newsflash, we're in trouble. Get23:14 up. Now, interesting, you might want to underline that because, that get up is the exact same word that God used to Jonah in Jonah chapter 1 verse 2. It's the word23:26 arise and go. And so now, all of a sudden, can you imagine Jonah's in the belly of the ship and the captain comes and says the same thing23:37 God told him. And so, he says, he says, arise, get up and call on your God. Maybe he will know to take notice of us and we will not perish. You say,23:49 alright, pastor. How did they know that Jonah even had a God? Well, jump down to verse 10. I'll put it right there for you. Well, if you have your app open, look down at the end of verse 10. It says, they knew he was24:01 running away from the Lord because he had already told them. So, apparently, when he when he bought the ticket on the ship, they said, hey, where you headed? And he goes,24:13 just anywhere away from my God. And he had already told them, so when the captain goes down below ship, the in in the belly of the ship, he says, hey,24:25 we could use some help. We've been praying. We've had this worship service where prayer, fasting, everything. Our gods are not cutting it. Could your God do it? And, and it's kind of24:37 interesting, Jonah just flat out told him. Jonah flat out told him that, listen, I'm running away from God and I don't24:49 plan to come back. See, there are times in my life and perhaps even times in your life where others are more sensitive to God's will for your life than you25:01 are. Others are more sensitive to God's judgment in your life than you are. There are times like this that others see the picture25:13 more clearly than you do. So my encouragement to you, if you're that person on the run, don't be shocked when God sends you a storm. And number 2, don't25:24 be shocked when God uses others to wake you up, because they see it over and over and over again. Here's number 3,25:37 God will single you out. If you are truly 1 of God's children, God will eventually single you out. He he'll let you run.25:49 He'll let you hide. He he'll let you be like the prodigal, spend all your money, and get to a place where you turn and come back. But if you don't, God will, if you're his child,26:00 God will single you out. Notice this. Pick it up in verse 7. It says, then the sailors said to each other, come let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity. Not uncommon in those days that they26:12 would cast lots and the lots or or the dice would just fall on the person who was most responsible. Sometimes it was Lot. They believe it was of divine origin. So notice what it says. They cast lots and the lot fell on26:22 Jonah. Can you imagine? So now, they've wakened the guy up. He's no longer in a coma. He's up on the bridge of the ship with them and they start casting these lots and all of a sudden it's very clear, it's26:34 you. And they absolutely single him out and they say it's you. So they ask him. Now, notice the series of questions they begin to ask. Question number 1.26:47 Tell us who is responsible for making all this trouble trouble for us? Question number 2. What kind of work do you do? Question number 3. Where do you come from? Question number 4.26:59 What is your country? Question number 5. From what people are you from? Now, notice all the questions. They they want to know. Because here's what they know. This guy,27:11 Jonah, even though they worked fearfully and hard to keep the ship alive, somehow, someway, he is responsible for what is happening around them. And so, they27:23 start asking questions. Boy, if you notice all the questions, he goes, what, who's your God that he could send such a great storm? Then he say, what do you do? What do you do? And and can you imagine? He27:35 goes, well, you know, I'm a prophet of God. And we're gonna see Jonah explains a little more, I'm a prophet, kind of the God who created the heavens and the earth27:48 and the sea. And and I've said no to him. And now all of a sudden he is showing up in my life. They ask, who27:59 are you? You know, there are times when we run from God so much that we get to a28:11 place where Jonah was. And here's our fourth principle, that you will forget who you are, and whose you are.28:24 You'll forget, man, I am a child of God. I've been called of God. God loves me and has a purpose for me and has has a plan for me to to prosper me and not to harm28:36 me. God is calling me to things. But if we aren't careful when we run from God, man, if we continue to run-in spite of the storms, in spite of the fact that others will, will will wake28:47 us up and shake us up, in spite of all of that, if we continue to run, we will eventually forget how special we are, how uniquely each and every 1 of us are created.29:00 Pick it up in verse 9. Here's where the light bulb comes on a little bit for Jonah. He said, I am a Hebrew. By the way, if you wanna know what the origin of that word Hebrew means, it's just 1 who's crossed over.29:12 That's kind of the the essence, the core of that. Just 1 who's crossed over. Well, we know they they crossed over the Jordan, they crossed from slavery, into the promised land, they did a lot of things. It's just 1 that29:23 crossed over. That's kind of the Hebrew root idea. So the question for you is, have you crossed over? Have you become a child of God? And so the light bulb29:35 kind of comes on for Jonah, but listen, it doesn't stay on long. He says, I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry29:46 land. And notice what it says, verse 10. This terrified them and they asked, what have you done? They got it more than he did.29:58 They're like, what is up with this? This is horrible. So you're running from that guy. Jonah did exactly what you and I do. In the midst of sin, in the midst of struggle, in the30:10 midst of running from God, we begin to identify with the world, or identify with other things, or identify with who I am on social media, or this or that. And our kids are struggling with that. That we begin to identify30:22 with anything and everything except for who we are. And Jonah had lost it. Boy, he should have just stepped back and he says, man, you know, I'm a wayward prophet. That that if y'all could30:34 just turn this ship around, if we could start moving back towards the port we came from, because I need to go do what God had called me to do. I I am absolutely under the belief that God would have calmed the storm.30:47 And maybe there's some in here today or some online that you've forgotten who you are. Turn and start heading back to God.30:59 And let God remind you, let God's word remind you, let your worship remind you, let God's people remind you who you are and the amazing call God has placed on your life. Here, just continue to31:11 read. Not only will you forget who you are, you'll forget your purpose in life. Man, when we lose purpose, and this whole series is31:22 called run with purpose. Last week, don't run from your calling. This week, don't run from God. Most important is you wanna run with purpose. What happens when31:34 you're when you lose your purpose in life? Pick it up. We're just gonna read verse 11. It says, the sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked asked him, what should we do to make the31:46 sea calm down for us? Says, pick me up. He says, throw me into the sea, he replied, and it will become calm. He says, I know that this is all my fault. This is a great storm.31:58 It's all come because of me. You know, as you think about this, there were better options. There were better32:10 options. He he'd come to a place in his life where he thought the only option was to end his life. And I want you to32:21 know here, everybody in this room, everybody online, that is always a bad option. You need to notice. If there's someone here, and someone in this room, or someone32:33 online that you are going through some stuff, that you have been running from your calling, you've been running from God for a long, long time, and you are in a space or a place in your mind, in your heart, in your32:44 emotions, in your relationship where you think ending my life is my only option. I want you to know there are better options and God's got a better plan for you. See,32:56 Jonah, I love the reality that scripture very vividly and clearly tells us that Jonah would have rather died than gone. But God33:08 didn't let him. And so his only option So I just wanted to stop and pause and and just share, if there's someone here that you think your only option is to end33:20 it, there's a better option. And there's a better plan. Because you don't want to lose your purpose in life. You don't want to forget who you are. Here, let's just continue to read verse 13. We want to finish this.33:32 Others will have to cover for you. Look at it. Jonah chapter 1 verse 13 says instead, Jonah's already said, hey throw me in. It says, instead, the men did their best to row back to land, but they could33:44 not. Now, here's the interesting point, is is he looks at them and said, this is all my fault. And they said, what should we do? And they said, throw me in. They looked at him and went,33:57 there's gotta be a better plan. Anybody have someone in your life right now, that they continue to make bad decision after bad decision after bad decision, and you're sitting there34:09 going, there's a better plan. Jonah says throw me in, but it says, instead, these men decide, wait if the God you serve34:21 created the land and the sea and caused this storm to come our way. The last thing we wanna do is throw you in. So here's what happened. They start covering for34:33 him. They start rowing harder and harder and harder so they could hopefully save themselves. Now listen, if you're in the midst of sin, if you're struggling,34:46 if you're running from your calling, or if you're running from God, and others see it, can I tell you your storm becomes their storm? And oftentimes, we've seen this over and over again, they34:58 will have to cover for you. The best thing we can do is repent, because let me tell you what, men, if you are not headed in the right direction, your wife is probably having to roll harder.35:10 Ladies, if you are not headed in the right direction, your your husband is probably having to roll a little harder. Maybe there's some couples in here that you are not headed in the right direction and your kids are35:19 having to roll a little harder. So the journey in here is, listen, let's run to our calling and with God, because that's where we35:31 have the least amount of storms and the most amount of blessings. So it just says they said, we're gonna try to cover for you. Now look at jump down.35:43 The reality of it is if you're a child of God, others are gonna see God's power work in your life 1 way or the other. So where do you see this? Look at verse 15. It says,35:55 then they took Jonah and 3 men. Alright. By the way, I started off using that word hurl or through. That's the third time. Third time that Hebrew word's been used. Alright.36:07 God hurled or threw a storm at them. The men hurled or threw the cargo off the ship. And now, they have taken Jonah and hurled him into the water. Alright.36:19 So, here we go. Then they took Jonah and threw him in, threw him overboard and the raging sea, listen to this, grew calm. At this, the men greatly feared the Lord and they36:31 offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. Interestingly enough, at any point, the36:47 decision when the prophet of God makes a bad choice. They ultimately throw him in the water. We know God's grace is coming next36:59 week, but in this moment, in this season, the seas calm, and their response is what? These pagans who prayed to their own god, now the words in the original language37:11 change, they are praying to Jonah's god. So here's the beauty. Even if you have been running from God's calling,37:23 and you've been running from God, and you are steeped in sin, when you turn and come back, those people will see God's power in your37:35 life, 1 way or the other. So child of God, as we leave here today, if you're running from God's calling, there's a better option.37:47 And the better option is always repentance, forgiveness, and grace. Let's pray. God, thank you so much for this day. God, thank you for this opportunity just37:59 to look at a prophet who sadly reminds us more of us than we would like to admit. God, if there are people in this room who they've been running from you for38:11 far too long, I pray, God, that they would turn and repent. God, if there are some in this room that they are experiencing a38:23 storm that you're sending their way. God, I pray for their repentance and forgiveness. God, if there are people in this room38:35 that others are covering for them, Print that they would move towards you and repentance and forgiveness and grace. God, as we leave here today,38:47 let us run with purpose, and never forget our purpose. In Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen.In this video 0:00 Running from God: Lessons from Jonah
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