Jonah had problems

Jonah Had Problems
May we learn not to follow his example,
as this was written for our instruction.
(Romans 15:4)

Introduction
• How often does God put people across our path
that we don't like?
• Ever wonder why?
• It could be a boss, a co-worker, a former friend, a
neighbor, a family member, and even a brother or
sister in Christ, or anyone else we feel animosity
toward.
• The reason for these people entering your life is
because God is conforming you to be the image of
Christ, teaching you to love even your enemies so
that you can be used by Him to be a vessel of
compassion.

God Is Teaching Us Love
• If we don't love people who curse us, hate us, use
us, and persecute us then we are no better than
any non-Christian.
• If we hate or dislike anyone can we really claim to
be children of God?
• God brings these people into our lives for our
spiritual benefit and growth, and we do not realize
it.
• If we obey God it will be for the benefit of our
enemies also.

• The Lord tells us how to love our enemies.
• We are to bless them, which is speaking good things
to them.
• We are to do good to them.
• Most important, we are to pray for them.

• Doing these things will turn our hate into love and
then God can send His compassion through us to
them;
• touching them with the most powerful force in the
universe, LOVE.
• Love always conquers hate as light conquers
darkness.
• Our natural flesh response is to just get away from
them, thinking then our life will be better.

Jonah Was Wrong
• That is what Jonah thought.
• The story of "Jonah and the Whale" told in the book of
Jonah in the Bible tells of the Prophet Jonah's ordeal
when God commanded him to go to Nineveh and
preach the word from God to repent or be destroyed.
• Nineveh was the capitol of the Assyrian Empire.
• The Assyrian's were a heartless, cruel, and evil people.
• They were great enemies of Israel.
• Jonah did not want them to repent, Jonah did not want
God to have mercy and compassion on such people so
he fled in the opposite direction getting on board a ship
to escape from doing God's will.

Jonah Was Wrong
• We know the story.
• The ship crew tried to row to shore but it was futile,
and they thought they would die.
• Jonah explained he was the reason for the storm
and convinced the crew to cast him overboard.
• The crew prayed to God, which they probably
would not have done if this event did not happen.
• The great fish swallows him.

Jonah Repents
• From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his
God.
• He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and
he answered me. From the depths of the grave I
called for help, and you listened to my cry. "Those
who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that
could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make
good. Salvation comes from the LORD."

Jonah Does What God Wants
• Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second
time:
• "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it
the message I give you."
• Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to
Nineveh.
• Jonah did what God wanted him to do, but we will
see later that Jonah was not happy about it.
• There might be times in our lives where doing God’s
will interferes with our wants.

Nineveh
• Now Nineveh was a very large city.
• A visit required three days to go through the whole
city.
• On the first day, Jonah started into the city.
• He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will
be overturned.“
• Now here is the part Jonah did not like.

Nineveh
• The Ninevites believed God.
• They had never listened to a prophet of God before.
• Perhaps no other prophet preached to them for the
same reasons Jonah did not want to preach to
them.
• They declared a fast, and all of them, from the
greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
• When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he
rose from his throne, took off his royal robes,
covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the
dust.

The King Proclaims
• Then the king issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the
decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man
or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them
eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with
sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them
give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows?
God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his
fierce anger so that we will not perish.“
• When God saw what they did and how they turned from
their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring
upon them the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah Was Angry (very angry)
• But Jonah was greatly displeased and became
angry.
• He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I
said when I was still at home?”
• That is why I was so quick to flee 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.
• “Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better
for me to die than to live."
• But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be
angry?"

• Jonah goes east of the city and sets up camp.
• He built a shelter and God provided a vine to cover
the shelter so Jonah would be comfortable in the
shade.
• Jonah was waiting for the destruction, but it did not
happen.
• To teach Jonah a lesson, God caused a worm to
attack the vine and kill it.
• Then a hot dry wind was sent upon Jonah and he
suffered greatly and wanted to die.

• Jonah complains that God killed this plant.
• But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be
angry about the vine?“
• "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die."
• But the LORD said, "You have been concerned
about this vine, though you did not tend it or make
it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.
But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty
thousand people who cannot tell their right hand
from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I
not be concerned about that great city?"

Lessons Learned
• Through this experience God was not just working on the
people of Nineveh He was also teaching Jonah a lesson about
true love and compassion.
• God wants us to be vessels of His compassion that He can
use to reach a lost and hurting world.
• The people that we don't like are probably the people who
are hurting the most on the inside.
• Who are we to judge that they don't deserve the love of God
to touch their hearts?
• Who are we to withhold good, and blessing, and our prayers
for them; thus keeping the knowledge of God from them?
• The Christian life seems to be a series of lessons about how
bad we can be and how great God's mercy and compassion
is.

Lessons Learned
• We must never forget that we are not in a war with people,
we are in a war with Satan.
• The people that we consider enemies are just prisoners of
war taken captive by Satan.
• (Ephesians 6:12 NKJV) “For we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”.
• The power of God, which is the power of love, can turn an
enemy into a best friend.
• Showing love to an enemy pleases God and proves that we
have great spiritual maturity.
• (Proverbs 16:6-7 NKJV) “In mercy and truth Atonement is
provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the LORD one
departs from evil. {7} When a man's ways please the LORD,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him”.

Lessons Learned
• We must always remember that as citizens of heaven
we are ambassadors sent to represent the kingdom, and
our King, Jesus Christ.
• Only by compassion and love can we represent the God
of love, the God of compassion.
• We show love even to our enemies by doing good to
them.
• By blessing them, which is saying good things to them,
and saying good things about them behind their back,
speaking blessings and not cursing.
• (Proverbs 18:21 NKJV) “Death and life are in the power
of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit”.

Lessons Learned
• The most important way we show love is through
prayer, this is where spiritual battles are fought and
won.
• Doing all these things will cause the compassion of
God to flow through our hearts as a river of life.
• It will change our enemies' life and even if they are
not affected it will definitely change our life, which
is God's plan anyway.

Remember What Jesus Taught
• (Matthew 5:44-47 NKJV) "But I say to you, love your
enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those
who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use
you and persecute you, {45} "that you may be children
of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on
the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just
and on the unjust. {46} "For if you love those who love
you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax
collectors do the same? {47} "And if you greet your
brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do
not even the tax collectors do so?”
• (Matthew 5:9 KJV) “Blessed are the peacemakers: for
they shall be called the children of God”.

Conclusion
• Don't try to avoid God's will for your life or you will run
into a storm.
• If it is your destiny to be conformed to the image of
Jesus, you will be conformed whatever it takes.
• (Romans 8:28-29 NKJV) “And we know that all things
work together for good to those who love God, to
those who are the called according to His purpose. {29}
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many brethren”.
• Do not make the mistakes that Jonah made.
• Do what God wants you to do.

Jonah had problems

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