Key Truth: God graciously pursues His people so that we can participate in His compassionate mission for the life of the world. 

How do you make important decisions? 
What or whom do you consult? What factors do you consider?  

God Pursues Jonah:

Jonah 1:4-6:

“The ship lying in the Joppa harbor was not meant to be a means of escape from God’s clearly revealed word, but the most terrible instrument in the hands of God to bring his servant back to his senses.  It was not God-given guidance at all; rather it was a severe test of Jonah in His wayward condition. … Do not be guided by providences when you are refusing to be guided by God’s Word. Do not take the events of your daily life as your instructor when you have not taken God’s Word as a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.”

Sinclair Ferguson, Man Overboard!: The Story of Jonah

In what ways have you seen God powerfully at work in and through you?  

“Jonah was in a deep sleep, and he was the only one sleeping.  Indeed, there is a time to sleep but not in the midst of God’s power.  Not when God is working His wonder and revealing His will all around you.  Not when God is calling you unto Himself and revealing His purpose for your life.  Yet Jonah was spiritually numb. God was doing mighty things around Jonah, yet Jonah was sleeping.  God was moving and showing Himself strong, yet Jonah was sleeping.”

Anthony Carter, Running From Mercy: Jonah and the Surprising Story of God’s Unstoppable Grace

What things in your life contribute to spiritual drowsiness? 
What things serve to keep you alert and awake to the work of God? 

“We here see that the Lord often cares for His people when they care not for themselves, and that He watches while they are asleep.  This ought not to serve to nourish our self-indulgence; for every one of us is already more indulgent to himself than he ought to be.  On the contrary, this example of Jonah, whom we see to have been so near destruction, ought to excite and urge us, that when any of us has gone astray from his calling he may not lie secure in that state, but instead, run back immediately to God.”

John Calvin, Commentaries on Jonah

Application:

Jonah 1:4-6 teaches us that:

- God calls us to examine our lives first by His Word, not by our circumstances.

- God calls us to be awake to what He is doing by being obedient to His Word.

- God will compassionately pursue us when we run from Him.  

Benediction:

Jude 20-25