The Life of Jonah
There are many stories in the Bible of people who were called by God and we can learn so much from their lives. It becomes very clear that when we obey God, the blessings of God are released on our lives. But when we go against the will and ways of God, things do not go well.
God wants to build something beautiful of our lives and He wants us to reflect His glory. Our choices and actions will either bring curses or blessings in our lives. Either curses or blessings will stalk us and overtake us depending on what we do. This has everything to do with our actions and choices and we can therefore determine whether our lives will be filled with good things or bad things.
A good place to start is to make a decision to live a life of obedience to God. Being obedient is obeying His Word and His call on our lives and fulfilling His plans and desires for our lives. That is a good place to start because blessings are tied to obedience to God.
Curses come from disobedience and sin.
The life of Jonah gives us many lessons that we can learn and apply to our own situations.
1. Jonah was a prophet of the Lord
Jonah was in fulltime ministry and was a prophet of the Lord. In Old Testament times, God only communicated to His people through His anointed prophets. That means Jonah was used by God regularly over a period of time to speak to the people on God’s behalf.
2. Jonah disobeyed God
Jonah 1:1-3 - Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me." But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish
Jonah did not like the assignment that God had given him and set off in the opposite direction. He even paid a price to run away from God. Many times we do not agree with what God has instructed us to do and will go to great lengths to avoid doing what God wants from us.
When we do our own thing, we will have to pay the price. When we do what God wants us to do, He will pay for it!
When we are disobedient to the call on our lives, it causes problems for us and others. God only blesses us when we are obedient, especially when He gives us a specific assignment to carry out on His behalf.
There are a lot of Christians who know what they are called to do, but they do not necessarily obey the call. Jonah knew what God had called him to do because God made it very clear to him.
3. Jonah messed up other people’s lives
Jonah 1:4 - But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.
The moment Jonah boarded the ship to Tarshish, everyone was subject to chaos. When we are disobedient and are in the wrong place, we can mess up other people’s lives.
4. Jonah was evicted
Jonah 1:15 - So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
The people on the ship soon realized that Jonah had brought trouble with him and they decided to throw him overboard. We are a blessing in the world when we are fulfilling our God-given assignment, but when we are not in submission to God, people in the world do not want us hanging around because we cause trouble for them.
4. Jonah rebelled against God
Jonah 1:17 - Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah must have been very angry with God and refused to repent. One would have thought that after his ordeal of being thrown into the stormy sea and being swallowed by a large fish, that he would have cried out to God. But he did not. He stayed in the fish’s belly and said nothing.
Jonah caused his own predicament. He did not need to blame the devil or anyone else. He managed to mess everything up for himself without any help from anyone else.
We tend to blame others or the devil for our situation, but all we need to do is to examine our own actions and choices that lead to situation and make things right.
5. Jonah repented and called out to God
Jonah 2:1-2 - Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly. and he said: "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me. "out of the belly of sheol I cried, and You heard my voice.
It was only after three days that he realized that he needed God and he called out to the Lord in desperation. When we find ourselves in a bad place, we know that we can call out to God and He will take care of our situation.
6. Jonah was set free from his bondage
Jonah 2:10 - So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Jonah was miraculously saved from certain death and was placed safely on dry ground. Even though we may find ourselves in a dangerous place or in a precarious situation, God knows exactly how to take us out and turn our circumstances around.
7. Jonah fulfilled his original assignment
Jonah 3:1-3 - Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you." So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.
Jonah went through a terrible time and barely escaped with his life. But God did not exonerate him from his original assignment. He carried inside of him the salvation and destiny of Nineveh. We are all called by God and the anointing on our lives extends to the ends of the earth. The destiny of entire cities, communities, and nations depend on our obedience.
8. There is fruit when we obey God
Jonah 3:4-5 - And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
Jonah carried a unique anointing that would unlock the chains that bound the people who lived in Nineveh.
God wants us to be:
* Involved and active
* Holy
* Obedient
* Available
* Busy
* Positioned
* Connected
* Equipped
* Discipled
We have to be faithful to the unique anointing which God has given to us. If we do not fulfill our responsibilities, there will be one of two outcomes. Either God will call someone else to do what we are destined to do (as in the case of Judas), or we will be compelled to obey Him which can result in a lot of unnecessary suffering (as in the case of Jonah).
