Focus Chapters:
- 2 Kings 14:1-4
- 2 Chronicles 25:1-24
- 2 Kings 13:12-13
- 2 Kings 14:15-16
- 2 Kings 14:23-27
- 2 Chronicles 25:25-28
- 2 Kings 14:17-22
- 2 Kings 15:1-5
- 2 Chronicles 26:1-21
- Jonah 1-4
Standout Verse(s):
Jonah 1:1-4 NLT
The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.
But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.
Observation (s):
- The Lord set Jonah on a specific course to deliver a message to His people.
The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
- Jonah rejected the course that God had set for him and chose to go on a different journey.
But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.
- Following Jonah’s departure from the course set for him, God utilized foreceful measure to get him back on track.
But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.
Application:
My sister is a good driver. We recently set out on a journey. In the midst of our journey, having positioned the car, she switched her attention from driving to handling something in the car. In that split moment, the car veered off course and she had to forcefully swing it back to keep on the course she had set it.
Many of us, including Jonah, are like that car. God sets us on a course but we veer off course the moment we disagree with God’s wishes. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh. Instead Jonah ignored the course that God had dictated for him and boards a ship for Tarshish. His choice results in God’s forceful intervention, in the form of a violent storm that totally disrupts the course that Jonah decided to take.
Don’t let God have to forcefully set you back on course. You may not like or enjoy His methods.
