REFUSING COMMITMENT
JONAH chapters 1 – 4
Lesson prepared by: krisha of Solomon Wisdom FB page
Lesson
ideas taken from: RevCharles Stanley Lesson
Scheduled
Teacher: Sis. Roxanne V. Velena
Lesson
Update Frm:Jan.29,2018
JANUARY 29, 2023
MEMORY VERSE
But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of
thanksgiving; I WILL PAY THAT I HAVE VOWED. Salvation is of the Lord.
(JONAH 2:9)
INTRODUCTION:
Do you believe that God wants the best for us? (Let the
audience raise their hands or say “Amen.”) If that so, why many of us in any
circumstances refuse being committed whatever what God has called us to be or
to do? When knowing God’s will in our lives, why we willfully refuse God. Why
we do that? For us to give an example, let’s look the life of Jonah. Jonah is
the perfect example of man who knew what God was calling him to do, yet
resisted God call anyway. We often do that, too, don’t we? What is it that you
know right now that God is requiring of you but you’re holding it off? What is
God challenging you to give up? What area of our life God wants us to alter
(change)? What relationship he said to
you “settle that?” What challenges in your business that He asks you commit to
Him? Is it your money, your faithfulness? What’s that God keeps bringing up to
you? If you pray, God keeps bringing it up and this cause us to cease praying;
either we deal with it or stop praying. Let’s see Jonah’s life; let’s read the
few beginning verses.
1 Now the word of
the Lord came unto Jonah
the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise,
go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is
come up before me.
3 But
Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he
found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into
it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
Let’s take a look in verse 3: went down to Joppa, went down
to it. A pastor said using this verse, “Every time we run away from God’s
presence, we’re going down.” Let’s read Jonah 1: 4-15.
You know what why there is raging on in the inside of us;
we’ve got Jonah aboard. Something in our life we don’t want to surrender,
something we don’t want to give up, something we won’t face or deal with it and
the storm keeps raging on inside. And we
think somehow that we’ll get the storm to cease and keep on holding of what is
not of God. It will never happen because that’s not the way God operates; throw
him overboard.
In
Jonah chapter 2, he prayed unto the Lord. We can see in here a man in true
distress. Let’s read verses 1-7 and we can see in verse 8, at the point
of dying, he remembered the Lord. “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered
the Lord:
and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.” In verse 9 says, But I will sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I
will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. This
verse tells that Jonah made a vow before to the Lord; He made a vow to go to
Nineveh. He made a commitment but failed doing it. This scene is like Jonah
was in desperate situation and says, “I will do my commitment Lord just get me
out of here.”
What have we seen in this lesson? Don’t wait till God has you
in the crouches of pressure until you are willingly said, “Yes, Lord I’ll do
Your will”
LESSON
POINTS:
1)
WE ARE AFRAID
We become fearful suppose we fail afraid of failure, afraid of criticism – afraid of
people, what they’ll say what if I don’t measure up the people’s expectation
and afraid of exposure.
They’ll see my weaknesses, they’ll see my faults, they’ll see that I’m not good
as they see in me, they’ll see that I’m not capable and they’ll see others
capable than I am. That’s why we’re afraid of exposure, afraid of failing and
afraid of the unknown. Suppose you’ll do what God says to do, what will happen?
The act of faith is being willingly place your trust in the wisdom and the will
of God without knowing the outcome. One of the reasons of not obeying is we
don’t know the results of the circumstances. We’re willing to obey if we know
the outcome, is that we call faith? People will follow by sight and not by
faith. It’s like you’re trying to put God in your own will and not trusting
God.
Another question we need to answer, how many blessings we
have missed in our lives because we’re afraid to trust God? How many blessings
we have missed in our business life because we’re afraid to trust God? What
have we missed in our relationship to others because we don’t open or become
transparent. We miss deep abiding friendship and fellowship. What have we
missed because we’re afraid to give the 10% of our money? You think how many
have left in your salary and think more of our bills. We need to start giving
to God first. We’re afraid of failure, afraid of criticism-what people may say,
afraid of exposure and afraid of unknown trouble us and these are the reasons of
not fulfilling our commitment to God. These speak of our ourselves – our
selfishness.
2) OUR
SELFISHNESS (JONAH 4:1-6)
We fail to follow our commitment and that is purely
selfishness. Most often than not of what God is requiring of us doesn’t fit our
plan, doesn’t fit what we want, doesn’t fit our schedule, doesn’t fit where we
go and what we do then we say, “That’s I don’t want to do.” We don’t say that,
but we casually and quietly go and do our own thing. And you say, “Lord your
plan doesn’t fit my plan.” What we do is to rebel against God, God’s plan
doesn’t
What do you think Jonah’s reason why he didn’t want to
follow God? Nineveh is 500 miles in Jerusalem; he was prejudice against
Ninevites. And why? Because Nineveh was a big treat in Jerusalem, to the people
of God. He didn’t them to repent; he wanted them to be destroyed.
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was
very angry.
2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was
yet in my country? Therefore, I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou
art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and
repentest thee of the evil.
3 Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from
me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
4 Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?
5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on
the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the
shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over
Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief.
So Jonah was exceeding glad
of the gourd.
If you see that in verse 6, Jonah was exceedingly glad of
the gourd but not happy in God’s plan. What have you seen in Jonah’s attitude? Where
were Jonah’s priorities? Is that what we feel sometimes? He was just like a Christian being unhappy
with the revival meeting, evangelism and other Christian gatherings but he was
happy with things not spiritual. He was totally unconcerned about spiritual
things and concern something with no lifetime value at all. God saw his
attitude and God prepared a worm to smite the gourd.
Let’s read verses 7-11
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day,
and it smote the gourd that it withered.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God
prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he
fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die
than to live.
9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the
gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
10 Then said the Lord,
Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither
madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are
more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right
hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
Sometimes
the reason we disobey God because we have
His plan disfigure His plan. We act like with Jonah, we see the plan like as if we
see better than God. Let’s be reminded based on the bible that whatever God
wants us to do, let’s put in mind that He sees the beginning, the middle, the
end and the ultimate results and he has the divine reason that’s why we need to
obey. Selfishness destroys us. We should commit and live in submission without
our convenience.
3) POOR SELF IMAGE (Judges 6)
When there’s a call we say, “Oh God
not me.” And sometimes we give prospect people who we think will fit in the
position rather than us. Remember Gideon’s call and says to him in verse
12, “thou mighty man of valour.” The
angel told him that he would save the Israel from Midianiates. And he answered
in verse 15,
15, And
he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my
family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. 16 And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will
be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
17 And
he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a
sign that thou talkest with me.
