Missing the Will of God

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Permalink Reply by Sathish Kumar ( Dan) on May 19, 2012 at 12:17pm

You can’t miss Gods will 

It seems that the Bible teaches that, yes, you can miss God’s will. It also teaches that no, you can’t miss God’s will.

Turn in your Bible to the Book of Jonah,

God wants Jonah to go to Nineveh. Verse 2, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me."

God wanted a prophet to go and preach a message of judgment to Nineveh.

But In response to God’s word, he disobeys,

Verse 3. "But Jonah rose up." That's good on one count. He did get up, but he didn't get up to go. He went up to flee. "He got up to flee unto Tarshish";

So Jonah set his journey, but not to Nineveh. He reacted in disobedience, and he...he really fled from the presence of the Lord. "He went down to Joppa...right on the seacoast there...and he found a ship going to Tarshish.

And so Jonah ran from God's will, the opposite direction.

But, you see, to run from God is like trying to flee from light.

The only thing you wind up with is darkness.

Look at the consequences. Verse 4, "But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was in danger of being broken."

God wasn't through with Jonah, he came after Jonah, and He just blew over the Mediterranean and created a storm.

God may let a man go to a certain point before He steps in, but, believe me, He'll step in; and God moved in the storm.

"But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay and was fast asleep."

Well, they woke him up, verse 6. "So the shipmaster came to him and said unto him, 'what meanest thou, O sleeper?'"

What are you doing sleeping?

"Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.'"

He says, "Look, we're all up here crying to our gods.

You cry to your God. Let's get this thing taken care of.

Verse 7, "And they said everyone to his fellow, 'Come, let us cast lots, throw dice, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us.' So they threw the dice and God controlled the dice, and the lot fell on Jonah," and it was Jonah.

Well, verse 8,  says that  the lot fell on Jonah

There's no way to get away from that God.

You know, Jonah could've fallen his knees right there, and he could've said, "God, I repent. I'm sorry. I acknowledge my disobedience;

Instead of getting on his knees and repenting, "He said unto them, 'Take me up and cast me forth into the sea. So shall the sea be calm for you, for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.'"

Verse 15, "They took up Jonah, cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging."

What a fantastic supernatural miracle. They threw him in. He hit the water, and the storm stopped that fast.

Now you see that God is really after Jonah

Now, Jonah could've repented on the desk; but God knew Jonah; and Jonah says, "I would die before I'll repent and go to Nineveh."

And so God says, "Okay, Jonah, go ahead, jump in." And God's got His fish, see.

Now, verse 17, "The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah."

This is a marvelous thing,. God was after Jonah, and if He couldn't get him the easy way,

He's gonna get him the hard way.

 It says at the end of verse 17, "Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights,"

God had prepared a fish. Now, at this point, God begins to really deal heart to heart with Jonah

Now this is the first right thing that Jonah did he prayed, and it was a prayer of repentance.

In chapter 2 is Jonah's deliverance.

You know what he did in that time in that fish? He began to recognize certain things

He recognized  God's authority. "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly.". Jonah wrote these words himself; and he says, "I turned to the Lord my God." He knew that God was his Lord. He recognized God's authority.

Remember the prodigal son? Finally came to his senses, and he said, "I will go to my father." Luke chapter 15, and Jonah, like a prodigal, says, "God, I acknowledge your authority," and you know something, Christian?

If you in your life have been running from God's will, if God has called you Kneel on your knees at the point of prayer and acknowledge that God is the authority in your life.

"God, I stop my running. I admit you have the right to control and to give the orders."

It's amazing how Christians can be out of God's will and just keep going and going and going, and finally they hit rock bottom, and they look up

Then he makes a marvelous personal testimony in verse 8. He says, "They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy."

He says, "The...the man who thinks he's gonna be happy doing his own will is just fooling around with nothingness,"

You disobey God, my friend, you follow your own life, and you forsake the only mercy available.

He learned that God was powerful. He recognized God's power.

Look at verse 9, "But I will sacrifice unto Thee with a voice of thanksgiving." You say, "How can you pray in the belly of a fish?"

"I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord."

You say, "But you're still in the belly of the fish, Jonah, what do you mean salvation is of the Lord?

Salvation by what?

 By faith. He believed God was gonna deliver him.

He recognizes that God is able to deliver him, because God is in control.

He recognizes that God will forgive.

He recognizes that God has the power to get him out.

If God could get this fish for him, and keep him alive in there

God can get him out of that fish and back where He wants him to be

Jonah singing the victory song in a belly of a fish at the bottom of the ocean, 'cause he knows God's gonna get him out.

Verse 11, verse 10 finally says, "And the Lord spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land."

God recovered him. You know, it's an exciting that when God sets His mind to recover one of his disobedient children

I'll tell ya, beloved, that's great hope for the one who's been living in disobedience.

You've been running from God, and you hear God's voice, you need to recognize His authority.

Recognizing that His power can extract you from whatever mess you've gotten into, turned you around, and put you where he wanted you to go in the first place...

Now we got a delivered prophet. What are we gonna do with him?

Verse 1 of chapter 3, the second call, and it begins just like the first one. The Lord says, "Well, I'll try again." "And the Lord, the Word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time...and the orders don't change...Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and cry or preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee."

Same thing: Arise, go, cry. Arise, go, and preach. You know, God is so loving. God is so gracious.

God loved old Jonah personally, and God wanted to use Jonah, and God chased him until He got him.

Listen, we may be disobedient to God in our life but God always gives a second chance

God is so gracious and so merciful, and if you've been running, and you've been hearing God's call, turn around, and He'll reinstate you, give you a second opportunity.

Then this time not disobedience, but obedience.

Verse 3, "So Jonah arose...he did that the first time...and he went to Nineveh."

He was finally obedient. He was prepared by God as a fitting instrument.

The sign of Jonah is this: that God can bring good out of evil.

That God can bring righteousness out of sinfulness.

That when God comes in judgment, if a man repents, judgment is set aside.

When you become a Christian, mercy doesn't end. It only begins.

So there you have it God loves you so much if you feel that you have missed the will of God , be still repent all your sins and commit your life back to him let him be the driver of your life and you be the passenger

Enjoy your blessed life

Permalink Reply by a servant (Chris) on May 22, 2012 at 3:12pm

Dan

    Can you image how Jonah looked like after being in a fish for three days.  Skin probably bleached white, clothes torn etc.  Some fishermen fishing on the shore, out of the sea comes Jonah looking how he did, and he tells you to repent.  I heard someone share something like this years and years ago.  I imagine most would repent right then.  I also often wonder and believe God knows what we will do, He may even put things in motion.  For Jesus used Jonah as a sign for those "teachers" of the law.  I truly love the way you share God's Love my Brother.  You got the Gift no question about that. Praise God.