- If you'll pull out your message notes, today we're ending a series
we've been in for several weeks on the life of Jonah. We've been looking at your life mission. I've said this every week: you weren't put on this earth
simply to live for yourself. No, no, no, you were made for a much greater purpose than you. You weren't put here to just make money, retire, and die. God has a plan and a purpose and he actually has what's
called a life mission for your life. Only you can fulfill your life mission. If you don't fulfill it, you just missed the whole
purpose of your life. So what we've been talking
about is extremely important, and we've been looking
at the manifestation of your life mission. Now, I told you there are three ways you can learn about something, like for instance your life mission. You can learn by explanation, you can learn by example, you can learn by experience. You don't have enough time in life to make all the mistakes yourself. It's wise to learn from experience, but it's wiser to learn from
the experiences of others. Then you don't have to
make those mistakes. You can learn from people
who are more successful. You can also learn from failures and go, I don't wanna do that. In the Bible there's this little book called the book of Jonah,
only four chapters. Jonah does almost everything
wrong in his life mission. What we're learning from this story are what not to do with your life. It's in there as a warning saying, don't do it this way. It'll save you a lot of heartache, save you a lot of pain, save you a lot of frustration. But you were made for a mission. Now this guy Jonah, he is a rogue prophet. He is a reluctant prophet. He is a resistant prophet. I told ya earlier, he was a bigot. He was racially prejudiced, and when God told him, "I want you to go to the city of Nineveh," which was the largest city
in the world at that time, the capital of Assyria, "and I want you to proclaim
a message to them," he goes, "I'm not gonna do it. "They're my enemy. "They're politically different from me. "I don't like those guys, I hate 'em. "I don't want you to bless them, "I don't want you to use them, "I don't want you to forgive 'em." So he runs the opposite direction. Instead of going east to Tarshish, I meant, east of Nineveh, he heads west to Tarshish, a
seaport on the coast of Spain. You know they have the big
ship storm in the ocean, he's thrown overboard, he's swallowed by this giant fish that the Bible says God had
prepared, uniquely prepared. He's there, in that fish, that, he turns him around, spits him out in the right direction. We've been following his life, learning what not to do. Now so far, here's what we've learned. In chapter one, up here on the screen, we saw Jonah rebelling
and running from God. He goes, "God, I don't wanna do your plan, "I wanna do my plan. "I don't wanna go with
your mission for my life. "I wanna just kind of do what I wanna do." Chapter two, we see Jonah
repenting and running back to God, and he prays, he goes, "Okay, I'll do it." Then last week we looked at chapter three where he's restarting,
and he's running with God, and goes, "Okay, I'm gonna do it." He has a bad attitude. His attitude stinks, it sucks, but he's doing, at least doing what God tells him to do. Now in this last chapter, we're gonna see Jonah
regretting and resenting, because God changes the plans and Jonah doesn't like that. What we're gonna look at today is quickly, I wanna review the mistakes that he made that we've seen up to this point, point out a couple more mistakes that he made in this chapter, and then look at what to remember when things don't go your way. Because you've figured out by now, most of life doesn't go your way. Everything in the world is broken, 'cause of, because of sin. The economy's broken,
the weather's broken, relationships are broken,
your body is broken. Nothing works perfectly on this planet. Your plans don't work perfectly. A lot of times you make your plans and what happens is the exact opposite. Jonah had his plans for
what he wanted God to do, and God had his plans, and when God did his
plans instead of Jonah's, Jonah gets resentful and regretful. Now, we're gonna look at what to remember when things don't go your way, but first, I want you to see, first, so far, we've seen five mistakes that Jonah made. You don't wanna make these, 'cause these make your life miserable. Number one, Jonah thought,
there on your outline, he thought he could ignore his mission, so he runs from God. Now, you can run from God
the rest of your life, but then what are you gonna do? You're gonna run into God. You can run from God
the rest of your life, then you can't run anymore, and you just wasted your life. Number two, Jonah was prejudiced against people that God created in love. That's gonna always make you miserable, if you're prejudiced, if you're
a racist, you're a bigot. Number three, Jonah cared
more about his politics than people's salvation. Now God says, "I wanna go save
that city called Nineveh," and he goes, "No, they're the enemy, "I don't want you to save them." He cared more about his politics. By the way, any time you make
an allegiance to your nation greater than your allegiance to God, there's a word for that. It's called idolatry, and it breaks the first
two of the Ten Commandments where God says, "You're not
to have anything before me, "I'm to be number one in your life," okay. Then he says, number four, Jonah was only interested in his nation, not the whole world. That's a mistake. Number five, Jonah reluctantly
fulfilled his mission, but he does it with a bad attitude. As we saw last week, he
eventually goes to Nineveh and instead of giving a message of love and forgiveness and
God wants you to change if you'll turn back to him, he walks in and goes, "You
guys are gonna die, bye." Not exactly a positive, popular message, and not exactly expressing
the love of God. Now, in Jonah chapter four,
what we've come to today, we find two more mistakes, and both of them involve
resentment, resentment. Because Jonah doesn't get his way, he gets resentful. Now let me just say here, resentment is the most
worthless emotion in your life. Any time you get resentful, you're gonna hurt yourself
more than you hurt the person you're resentful against. If I asked you to remember
somebody who's hurt you, you could probably pretty quickly bring up somebody in
your mind who's hurt you, and you've had resentment against them. You think by resenting them, you're holding them accountable, but actually, when you hold, when you're resenting somebody, all you're doing is
make yourself miserable. They're not even thinkin' about you while you're thinkin'
about them all the time. There are people who hurt you a year ago, five years ago, 10
years ago, in your life. You're still holding on to that hurt. That's dumb. They can't hurt you anymore, unless you hold on to the memory of it. That's called resentment. They're not even thinkin' about you while you're stewin' and spewin' and going, I hate the fact
that they did that to me, and you're goin' over
and over it in your mind, it gets bigger and bigger. They're out there cookin'
a steak on the barbeque, makin' homemade ice
cream and playin' golf. (audience laughs) They're not even thinkin' about you. Who's the miserable one, you. Resentment never helps, it always hurts. You gotta let it go. You gotta let it go. Now, these are the next two
mistakes that Jonah makes. I don't want you,
because I care about you, 'cause I love you, I want your life to be happy, I want your life to be successful, you gotta get this resentment
stuff out of your life. No matter what people have done to you, they can't hurt you anymore, unless you hold on to
it through resentment. Now here, while resentment
is bad against anybody, the worst kind is when you
have resentment against God. You may have never even
thought about this, but you have had times in your life, we all have, where we are
resentful against God. God, why did you do that? Why didn't you do this? Why did you let that happened? You get resentful against God. That causes all kinds of problems. Now, here are the two
mistakes that Jonah made. I want you to write these down so you don't make them,
okay, in your life. Number one is resenting God's plan when it doesn't fit my plan. That's what Jonah did. Resenting God's plan for my life when it doesn't fit my plan for my life. Have you ever done that? Of course you have. You got mad at God when you had a plan and your plan for
graduation, for marriage, for that job, for whatever, didn't happen. Resentment is a deadly poison. It's like drinking arsenic and hoping it kills your opponent. It's like aimin' a shotgun at yourself and pulling the trigger so you hit your enemy with
the kick of the recoil. It's always gonna hurt you more than it hurts anybody else. But resentment against
God is especially bad. Now, why was Jonah resentful? I'll tell you why: because he wanted his
enemies, the city of Nineveh, to be destroyed. God's goin', "I wanna forgive 'em. "I wanna warn 'em and hope
they'll turn back to me." God, Jonah's goin', "I don't
want you to forgive 'em." So he doesn't want God
to let 'em off the hook. In Jonah chapter three verse 10, the last verse, the last chapter, first verses of the next
chapter it says this, on the screen. "When God saw that the people of Nineveh "had put a stop to their evil ways," and they really were a pretty wicked city. They were kind of like Nazis of that day. They were very, very brutal. "When Nineveh had put a
stop to their evil ways, "he had mercy on them "and he canceled the
destruction he had threatened. "Now this change of plans upset Jonah, "and he became furious. "So Jonah complained
to the Lord about it." Now, I, remember I told ya last week that when God warns you about something, "You know, if you don't change this, "it's gonna be, there're
gonna be problems, "there're gonna be discipline,
there'll be a punishment." Whenever God warns you,
that's a good sign, because a warning means,
"I don't wanna do it. "I don't wanna discipline
you, I don't wanna punish, "I'm just warning you." When God warns you, "If
you walk off that cliff, "you're gonna fall," that's for
your good, not for your bad. So a warning actually is God's grace. If God just wanted to punish
you, he'd just punish you. He doesn't warn you, he just does it. So God says, "I want you to
go to Nineveh and warn them "that if they don't straighten up, "things are gonna change." Well, that's a symptom that
I want to forgive them, and that's what God wanted to do. Well, Jonah doesn't want that. When God warns, he's, Jonah's hoping that he has destruction. So he gets resentful because God decides, "I'm gonna forgive these guys "'cause they've turned back to me, "so I'm gonna forgive 'em." Jonah blows a gasket. He gets upset, he gets
resentful against God. Now, how do you know, you, how do you know when
you're resentful at God? You're gonna find five
emotions in your life. Write these down. These are signs that subconsciously, you are resenting God right now. Number one is frustration. Frustration in your life is a sign that you're resenting God. The Bible says, "This change
of plans upset Jonah." He got very frustrated, he got very upset, he got ticked off. Now, this revival, when God said, "I'm gonna forgive 'em," it's good news for everybody except Jonah. When God says, "I'm gonna
forgive the whole city," everybody's rejoicing
except one guy: Jonah, why? 'Cause he's the guy who doesn't want 'em, he wants 'em to be destroyed. So he's frustrated. Second thing is anger. It says, "Jonah became furious." That word there in the Bible literally means he lost his temper. He's in a rage, he's livid. He is indignant that God did not destroy the people who had heard him. "Why didn't you destroy those people?" So he's very, he's not only
frustrated, he's anger. Number three: self-pity. When you have self-pity, often behind it will be resentment. It says, "He complained to the Lord," and he goes, "Oh, poor
me, nobody likes me, "everybody hates, I'm gonna go eat worms." (audience laughs) He has a pity party and he
invites me, myself, and I. Have you ever done that, had a pity party for yourself? Oftentime there's resentment behind that. Frustration, anger, self-pity. Now, in the next verse it says this: "Now," Jonah says, "I ask you,
Lord, please kill me," huh? "Please kill me. "For it's better for me
to die than to live." Oh, this guy's way off now. Okay, this guy is seriously,
are you kidding me? This is extreme resentment. "God, just kill me. "I'd rather be dead than alive." Now, here are the two other
things: depression and suicidal. Depression: "It's better
for me to die than live," that's severe depression, and suicidal: "Lord, just kill me, okay, "I don't wanna live. "My plans didn't work out
so I don't wanna live. "Just, you know, take my life. Now, how rational is this? Okay, this is extreme resentment. Now, it's not rational, because think of all the things that God has done for
Jonah so far in his life, all the stuff he's survived
because of miracles. He survives a storm at sea, he survives being thrown
overboard by those sailors that we looked at a couple weeks ago, he survives being
swallowed by a giant fish. He, all things things have happened that he's still alive, and he's going, "I just wanna die, I just wanna die." Now, why is that? This is what happen when
hate fills your heart. Hate filling your heart
will cause these emotions. Resentment filling your heart
will cause these emotions. Actually, they actually come in order, because it starts with frustration, 'cause things aren't goin' the way you want 'em to go, then it goes from frustration to anger, I'm ticked at God 'cause things aren't goin' the way I want 'em to do, then it goes from there to self-pity, and I start feeling poor me, poor me, then it moves from there to depression, and then it could move to, I may as well just die. It progresses. That's what happens when
you hold hate in your heart. I am begging you, as your
pastor, I am begging you, whoever you're holding hatred against, whoever you're holding hurt against, whoever you're holding resentment against, let it go, let it go. 'Cause if you hold it in your heart, hatred in your heart produces, and resentment in your heart produces frustration and anger,
self-pity and depression. I remember many, many,
many, many years ago, when Kay and I first got married, the first year, about six
months into our marriage, we were not gettin' along in our marriage, and we were fightin' like crazy, and we were brand new newlyweds. Kay thought she was having
a nervous breakdown, I ended up in the hospital. I literally was in the hospital, and I remember a psychiatrist came in. This was like 45 years ago. Psychiatrist comes in to me and he goes, "So, what's you're problem?" I said, "I, well I'm
depressed, I'm depressed." He goes, "So really, what
are you angry about?" I said, "Oh no, I'm not
angry, I'm just depressed." He goes, "Anger, depression
is sometimes frozen anger." When you swallow your emotions,
your stomach keeps score. I was so angry at Kay,
and I was swallowing it. I wasn't expressing it,
I was repressing it. It was causing depression in me. When you hold anger, when you hold hatred, when you hold hurt, when you
hold resentment in your heart, you're not hurtin' the other person. You're just hurtin' yourself. You gotta let it go. That's a mistake that Jonah made. "I just wanna die." It always hurts you more. Now here's the second
mistake that Jonah made. First is resenting God's plan when it doesn't fit my plan. I resent God 'cause his
plan doesn't fit my plan. The second resentment
is resenting God's mercy and goodness to other people. When God is good to people I don't want him to be
good to, then I get upset. When God is merciful
and forgiving to people I don't want him to
forgive, then I get upset. That's what happened to this guy, Jonah. Jonah hates that God is
forgiving people he doesn't like. They're not only his
political enemy as I told you, he's racially prejudiced
against these people. Jonah chapter four verse two it says this: "Then Jonah complained." Now, who's he complaining to, to God. He says, "Didn't I say,"
he's talkin' to God, "Didn't I say before I left home "that I knew you would do this, Lord?" In other words, forgive these people. "That's why I ran away to Tarshish!" You know, he says, "this is why I ran away "from my life mission. "I knew that you are a
gracious and compassionate God. "I know you're slow to get angry. "I know that you're filled
with unfailing love. "I knew how easily you
could cancel your plans "for punishing these people." Now notice, Jonah says, "I ran from God, "and I ran from my life mission, "I ran from what God had told me to do, "'cause I knew what a good God he is." He said, notice the four things
that God knows about God. He says, "I knew you're
gracious and compassionate," he says, "I knew you're patient," in other words you're slow to get angry. God doesn't get ticked fast. He's patient, he's slow to get angry. He says, "I knew your love is unlimited, "it's everlasting, it's eternal," and he goes, "I knew that you rather "forgive people than punish them." All this knowledge, what
does it do to Jonah? It depresses him. Really, really? All these good things about God and Jonah gets depressed, why? Here's why, because Jonah had a problem that you and I have, too. We want forgiveness for ourselves and we want justice for everybody else. We wanna be forgiven, we
want God to show us grace. We want God to show us mercy, "But that guy who hurt
me, no, God, you get him, "you get, he deserves justice. "Do I deserve justice? "No I deserve grace, I deserve mercy." Jonah wants God to forgive him, but he doesn't want God to forgive anybody who's hurt him. He's resentful, and he's resenting that God is actually showing mercy to somebody who hurt him. He is resentful that God is showing mercy and forgiveness to somebody
he doesn't like, his enemies. He wants forgiveness for himself, he wants justice for everybody else. So let's just get real today. Let's don't talk about this
guy thousands of years ago. Let's talk about you. Who do you want God to not forgive? Who do you want God to not forgive? "Please don't forgive them, God. "They hurt me too much." Who has hurt you so much that you don't want
God to show them mercy? This is the Jonah trap. It happens as much today as it did to this guy a long time ago. Who is it that hurt you so much you don't want God to show mercy? Who are you unwilling to forgive that God's already forgiven? God's already forgiven 'em, but you won't, 'cause you think you're better than God. You are only hurting yourself. You're not hurtin' them. Holding on to that resentment,
holding on to that hatred, holding on to that hurt
is not hurting them. All it's doing is making you miserable. Who are you unwilling to
forgive that God has forgiven? I remember a guy came
to John Wesley one day and he said, they were talkin' about a guy and a guy said, "Oh, I could
never forgive that guy. "I could never, never forgive that man." John Wesley said, "Well
then, I hope you never sin." Why, because when you, you
don't wanna burn the bridge that you have to walk
across to get to heaven. Let me show you what Jesus
said, up here on the screen. Jesus said this: "If you forgive others "the wrongs they've done to you, "your Father in heaven
will also forgive you. "But if you do not forgive others, "then your Father will not forgive "the wrongs you have done," uh-oh. When you refuse to forgive, you're burning the bridge
you have to walk across to get to heaven. If you're unwilling to forgive others, God says, "Why should I forgive you? "If you're unwilling to
show grace to others, "why should I show grace to you?" You want everybody else to have justice, but you wanna have mercy. That is the Jonah trap,
that is the Jonah mistake. You need to learn to forgive everybody who's ever hurt
you for three reasons: past, present, and future. Now listen very closely. Three reasons you need to let it go, no matter how badly they, do they deserve it? Of course not, but you don't either. Forgiveness is never deserved. Forgiveness is never earned. Forgiveness is just a gift. You don't forgive them
'cause they deserve it. You forgive them because
you want to feel better. You do it for your sake. You let 'em off the
hook for three reasons. First, I have been
forgiven a lot in the past, so I need to forgive other people. Second, holdin' on to the hurt right now just makes me miserable. I end up thinking about people I don't wanna think about, and I'm gonna, in the future, need more forgiveness in the future, 'cause I'm certainly not gonna be perfect from here on out, so I need to let it go
for all three reasons. Past: I've been forgiven, second, I don't wanna be miserable now, and third, I'm gonna need more
forgiveness in the future. Friend, you gotta let it
go, you gotta let it go. Not because they deserve it. You didn't deserve the
forgiveness God's given you. You let it go because
holdin' on to it hurts you. Now Jonah gets mad because
God does good things to people who are repentant, and Jonah gets irritated
because God shows grace to people that Jonah didn't like. You'd think he'd be more gracious. God had shown him an awful lot of grace for his stinky attitudes and
his rebellion and all that. So Jonah doesn't want
those people in Nineveh to be forgiven. He wants 'em to be destroyed. He wants the whole city to be wiped out. God had said, "I want you to go warn 'em "so I don't have the wipe 'em out. "I want you, I want 'em to turn." There's one other possible
motive that Jonah has, and we see it in the
Living Bible translation of Jonah chapter four verse three, up here on the screen. Jonah goes, "I'd rather be dead than alive "when nothing that I
told them has happened." What's he worried about here? His reputation. He said, "God, you told me
to go to Nineveh and go, "in 40 days the city'll be
destroyed if you don't turn, "if you don't repent, if
you don't come back to God. "Now it hasn't happened. "It makes me look bad, God." He's more worried about how he looks than people's salvation. He'd rather see an entire city destroyed than him look bad. He goes, "You know, it's better "for me to not even be alive. "This makes me look bad. "I'm worried about how
I appear to others." Are you? Now, because of this, in the
second half of this chapter, God has to teach Jonah an object lesson, and it's one that we all have to learn. We're gonna look at this. What should I remember when
things don't go my way? Well, you need to remember four things, and that's what the last
half of this chapter, this last chapter of the
book of Jonah teaches us. Four things to remember when
things don't go your way. Now, things aren't gonna go your way a lot in your life, so you
need to write these down, and you need to remember, this is what I need to think about when things aren't goin' my way, when my plan doesn't match God's plan. Number one, first, when
things don't go my way, remember, there are
four things to remember, remember, God can see things I can't. I just have to remind myself when things aren't going my way, that God can see things that I can't. Jonah's all upset that God had said, "I'm gonna destroy this city "if they don't turn to me." They turned to him, he said,
"I'm gonna let 'em off." He's upset about that. In verse four it says,
"Then God asked Jonah, who's all ticked off,
"What right do you have "to be angry over what I've done? "Why should you be angry that
I've forgiven these people?" He's goin', "Are you God,
are you wiser than me? "Can you see things that I can't see?" Anytime you doubt God's wisdom, you're gonna get in trouble, 'cause God is God and you're not. When I have my plan and all of a sudden, God has his plan, and God's
plan is different than my plan, and I start to get upset about it, I just need to remember, God can see stuff I can't see. God can see the past and
the present and the future all at the same time, 'cause
he's not limited by time. We're on a planet that
circles 24 hours, you know, around the sun and rotates
and, but we have a time. If you weren't on this planet, your concept of time
would be very different. God is timeless. He can see the past, present,
and the future all together. He can see what you can't see. So you need to trust his wisdom. When we doubt God's
wisdom, we get in trouble. God had to deal with this with
a lot of people in the Bible, not just Jonah. Another guy named Job, look up here on the screen. The Bible says in Job 38:2-3, "The Lord said to Job, 'Who
are you to question my wisdom? "'Where were you when I made the world?'" Not a bad question. Where were you when God made the world? Are you God, do you see
things he doesn't see? Do you know more than he knows? Do you think your plan
is better than his plan? "Where were you when I
made the world," God says. He says, "Do I need your
advice to change plans, no. "Do I need to consult you when I know "what's gonna be better for you, no. "Are you being a little
presumptuous, yes." I said, I just need to remember, when things don't go the way I planned, God is God and I'm not. I just need to trust him, and I need to trust his wisdom. I need to trust that he can see things that I can't see. On the screen, Ecclesiastes chapter three verse 11 says this: "God does everything
just right and on time." So he always does the right thing and he always does it at the right time. God's never late. We might think he's late,
but God's never late. "God does everything
just right and on time, "but people can never
completely understand "what he's doin' and see
the whole scope of his work "from beginning to end." We don't see what God sees. You trying to understand God's plan is like an ant trying to
understand the internet. I don't have the brain capacity to see from beginning to end and see all of history,
and you don't either. So the first thing I have to do is remember that God can
see things I can't see. So God's saying, "Don't doubt me. "Don't doubt me when you're
goin' through tough times. "I know what's goin' on, I
can see where it's headed. "I know the ending, I
know the end of the story. "I've read the last chapter." So he said, "Don't doubt me." Remember that God can see things I can't. So this is the first
thing Jonah has to learn. Now, Jonah leaves the city, okay, and in the next verse, verse five it says, "Then Jonah left the city of Nineveh "And he found a place east
of the city to sit down. "There he tried to make a
temporary shelter to sit under "as he waited to see what
would happen to the city." Do you see what's goin' on here? Jonah is still hoping, even though God says he's
gonna forgive the city, Jonah's still hoping
God's gonna destroy 'em. So what he does is he leaves town, and he goes out up on
a hill outside of town, and he sits down to watch the show. He's waiting for God to destroy the largest city in the
world at this time, okay. This is gonna be a good show. So he gets out there and he's ready and he sets up this long
chair and, lawn chair, and he pours an iced tea and gets out his chips and
guacamole, and, you know, he's waitin' to see a city destroyed. You say, "Man, that's a little gruesome." How entertaining is it to
watch people be destroyed, killed, and cities destroyed? Well, they're called blockbuster movies. I mean, thousands of years later, people pay big money to
go see cities destroyed and people killed. So he's think, "I'm gonna
be entertained by this." So he's sittin' out there in his chair, waiting to see what will happen. The problem is, it's a hot, hot, hot, dusty, deserty day, and Jonah doesn't have a beach umbrella. So he's gettin' hot. That leads us to the second
thing you need to remember, because what God does
next is pretty unusual. Number two, write this down. When I'm goin' through a tough time that I don't understand,
what I need to remember when things don't go my way, is remember God is good to
me even when I'm cranky. God is good to me even when I'm cranky. Now Jonah, he's mad at God, but God's still gonna be good to him. In the next verse, verse six, it says, talks about that even
when your attitude stinks, God is still gracious to you. Verse six: "Then God arranged," Jonah's out there,
sittin' under the hot sun, "Then God arranged for
a broad leafed plant "to spring up quickly and provide shade "for Jonah from the hot sun "and to relieve his discomfort. "This made Jonah very happy
and comfortable!" (Rick laughs) Jonah's bein' a total jerk, God still cared for his discomfort, okay. This is kind of cool here, okay. Now, notice it says, "Then God arranged," circle that word arranged. It's the same word where it says God arranged a great fish. He custom-made, he custom-made
a broad leafed plant to spring up quickly and
provide shade over Jonah while he's sittin' there. He's worried about Jonah's discomfort even though Jonah's attitude stinks. God cares about you, friends, even when you're a jerk. He's saying here that you have no idea how many times God has
made your life comfortable when you didn't deserve it. You may have been goin'
the exact opposite of God, and God's still covering you with shade. You may have been ticked off at God, you may have been totally ignoring God, and God was still caring
for your discomfort, because that's the kind of God God is. He loves you even when you're unlovable. He loves you even when you're unlovely. Here's Jonah, mad at God,
for God changing the plans and goin', "I'm gonna
forgive those people." He's out there, and he's complaining about how hot it is, and God
takes care of his discomfort. I need to remember that God is good to me even when I'm cranky. I need to remember that I have no idea how many times God has made my life easier when it could have been harder, and I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve it at all. It was simply the grace of God. Now, here's the third thing to remember. When things don't go as planned, I remember God sees things I don't see, and when things don't go as planned, I remember that God is good to me, even when I'm cranky, and number three, when
things don't go as planned, I remember that God is in
control of every detail of my life. God is in control of
every detail of my life, the big and the little,
the large and the small, the fast and the slow,
every detail in my life. Plans in your life, friends,
don't fail randomly. I'll say it again. Plans in your life don't fail randomly. There is a purpose, there is
a reason behind everything, everything in your life. Now, God has to teach
this lesson to Jonah, so he actually uses the object lesson of this plant that he's grown up to give comfort to Jonah, that God is in control of
every little detail of my life. In the next, you know, so God had arranged for this plant to spring
up and provided shade while he's sittin' out there, waitin' for the show to happen, the show of destruction, but in the next verse, it says this. "But at dawn the next day, "God arranged," there's that word again, God is custom designing, "God
arranged for a small worm," oh great, "a small worm "to chew through the stem "of that large," this is
gonna be an object lesson, "chew through the stem of
that large shade lesson, "shade plant, so that
it withered and died. "Then, when the sun arose, God arranged," there's another word again,
"a scorching east wind, "and the sun blared so hot on Jonah's head "that he grew faint and he wanted to die, "and he said again, 'It would be better "'for me to die than to live.'" Okay now so far, we've seen God arranging all kinds of things in Jonah's life. He's arranged a fish,
he's arranged a plant, he's arranged a worm. God's using all, in fact, all of, look up here on the screen, here's all the stuff that God had arranged in Jonah's life. The Bible tells you in
chapter one verse three, "God arranged a great
wind to create a storm," then it says in verse seven, "God arranged the dice to reveal "that Jonah was the problem." You remember that part of the story. Then it says, "God arranged a great fish "to transport Jonah back to
where he was supposed to be." Then it says, "God arranged
a fast growing plant "to provide shade," and then it says that "God arranged a worm to eat
the plant for breakfast." (audience laughs) It's all been arranged. Now, I want you to listen to me. The things that you think are
disappointments in your life, disappointments are his appointments. Disappointment are his appointments. Disappointments are his appointments. Disappointments, what looks like a disappointment in your
life is his appointment. It may not be your plan,
but God has a plan. God is God and you're not. The more you fight God's plan, the more miserable you're gonna be. You're gonna have frustration and anger and self-pity and depression and maybe feel like taking your life. But if you go with the flow and say, "God, I trust your wisdom, "and I trust that you're good to me "even when I don't deserve it, "you're good to me even when I'm a jerk, "you give me comfort. "I mean, I may be runnin'
from you completely, "I'm still breathin' air,
I'm still drinkin' water, "my heart is still beating." Those are all gifts of God. I wouldn't last one second
without the grace of God, and you wouldn't either. So God has arranged everything, from a great wind to a little worm. Now, I want you to get this. In your life, in your life, sometimes God arranges
something really big to swallow you up, like that big fish. He arranges a big
circumstances to swallow you up and you're headin' the wrong direction, and when he, it spits you out, you're headed in the right direction. At other times, God
arranges something brand new that comes up suddenly in
your life, like that plant that sprung up suddenly and provided shade and comfort when he was discomfort. Sometimes God provides
something new in your life to give you comfort even
when you're not where you ought to be. But God's giving you comfort,
even in that situation. Then sometimes, God
arranges something small to eat away at what's
been giving you comfort, because he doesn't want you to stay there. He wants to move you, he
wants to get you goin'. He doesn't want you sittin' on the hill under the shade plant for
the rest of your life, so he arranges something
real small, like a worm, to eat away at your comfortable, and all of a sudden, it's
not comfortable anymore, and you're back under the hot sun. In all of those situations, big, little, small,
whatever, God is doing it. In every situation, in every case, God's motive is love. He's doin' it because he loves you. Not because he hates
you, not to punish you. He's doin' it because he loves you. God is a God of wisdom,
God is a God of grace, and he is a God of love. You may not see the beginning to the end, but he's doin' it, whether
it's the big or the little or the new in your life. He's doin' it because he loves you and he knows what'll make you happy more than you do. You know, the word great
is a very prominent word in this book of Jonah. I haven't called attention to it so far, but as we're endin' this series, I want you to look up here on the screen how many times the word great shows up in the story of Jonah. It says that, chapter one, "God arranged a great wind," and then it says that "the
wind created a great storm," and then it says that "The
sailors felt great fear," 'cause they're, the boat was breakin' up. Then "God arranged a great fish." Then it says, "Jonah got
a great second chance," and then, "Nineveh showed
great repentance, that city," and as a result, "the
city had a great revival." A lot of great things happen. But also a lot of small things. I want you to write this down. Write this down somewhere on your outline. God uses both great and
small things to direct me. God uses both great and
small things to direct me. Great circumstances, big
circumstances swallow me up, little circumstances
like a worm that eat away at my discomfort and my comfort. God uses both great and
small things to direct me, but God is a God of details, and he's in control of
every detail in your life. So when things don't go
the way I want them to go, I remember God can see what I can't see, I remember that God is good to me, even when I'm a jerk, when I'm cranky, when I'm totally ignoring him, God's still good to me, and I remember that God is
in control of every detail, the big and the little. He is arranging, it's all arranged. Disappointments are his appointments. Verse nine, "Then God asked Jonah again, "'What right do you have to be angry "'that the shade plant withered and died?' "Jonah said, "I have
every right to be angry, "'and I'm angry enough to die!'" This guy just doesn't get it, okay, he just doesn't learn. This is what we're
learning not to do, okay. Jonah totally misses the point. What's the point, write this down. When things don't go my way, the fourth thing to remember
is remember to focus on what will last. When things don't go my way, I need to remember to focus
on that which will last. I remember that God can
see what I can't see, I remember that God is
good even when I'm a jerk, I remember that God is in
control of every detail and I remember to focus on what will last. You see you guys, we fret, and we worry, and we stew, and we spew and we get upset over the
passing of circumstances that aren't gonna last think week, much less next month, next year, 10 years, or for eternity. We spend most of our worries on stuff that is so short term, like a plant that grows
up a dies the next day. He goes, "Why are you
worrying about this?" He said, "If you're gonna
get distressed in life, "at least get distressed "about something that really matters." Plants don't last, they're short-lived. Some of you, you kill 'em really quickly at your house. You're really good at
killin' plants, okay. You don't have green thumb, you got, I don't know, some other kind of thumb. But the bottom line is he's sayin', "If you're
gonna get distressed "about something in life, "well, at least get distressed "about something that
matters, that's gonna last. "You're all worried about a plant "that grew up one day "and then I let it die the next "to teach you the brevity of life, "to teach you how most of the
stuff you're worried about "isn't even gonna matter
a year from today. "It's just temporary." In verse 10 and 11 it says, "Then the Lord said, 'Jonah, "'you're more concerned
about a plant that died "'even though you didn't
plant it, you didn't water it, "'you didn't make it grow,' "in other words, 'I did that, "'and plants are short-lived. "'They spring up quickly and they die. "'But Nineveh, that city over there, "'that one that you wanted destroyed, "'has more than 120,000 people "'who don't know their right
hand from their left,'" I'll explain that in a minute, "'not to mention all the animals. "'Shouldn't I be concerned
about that great city?'" Now, Bible scholars debate what is meant by 120,000 people that don't know their left
hand from their right hand. Some scholars think it means children: 120,000 kids, they don't know their right hand from their left hand, so there would be 120,000
kids in that city. Others think it means the people there weren't morally astute. They were morally ignorant. They didn't know right from wrong, and as a result, they were
livin' in a wrong way. Either way, God is saying, "Jonah, you care more
about your own comfort, "this shade plant that died, "and you got ticked that it died in a day, "you care more about your own comfort "than the salvation of
a city full of people "who are spiritually dying. "Why don't you get concerned about stuff "that really matters "rather than simply your
own personal comfort?" Now, I'm not gonna make a big point here, but God wants us to care about cities. He says, "Should I not care
about that great city?" If God cares about cities, we should, too. What city should you care about? Well, obviously the one you live in, but God says you should
care about all cities. Why, 'cause they're filled with people that God created and made and loved. The future of the world is urbanization. The future of the world is cities. By the end of this century, the vast majority of people in the world will live in major cities,
that's the migration. The future of this world is young, urban, and south of the equator. That's the future. Study any demographics,
they'll tell you that. That's the future. There'll be cities of
85 million like Kinshasa and Nairobi and others,
giant, giant cities. He's just sayin', we need
to care about cities. Why, because people are there. Let me just phrase it in another way. What do you care about most? The plant that's givin' you comfort, or the salvation of
people that God created and loves and wants 'em to know him? I mean, what if this Christmas, you cared more about the salvation of the people around you than you did, cared about what you're gonna buy them as a gift? You're gonna spend an awful lot of time thinkin' about, what am I gonna buy them for a gift this Christmas? That's temporary. Most of those Christmas gifts aren't even gonna be
around next Christmas. It's the plant that's gonna die. Why, what if you spent
as much time praying for that person and their salvation, and inviting 'em to a service as you did spending time on what to buy 'em as a gift? You got your priorities in the wrong, he says, "If you're gonna get distressed, "get distressed over
something that matters." People need the Lord. They need the Lord a whole lot more than they need a Christmas gift. Yet, why are we more
worried about the temporary? The greatest, this whole series has been on your life mission. The greatest use of your life is to invest it in
something that outlasts it. You see, you can waste your life, and there are lots of ways to waste it, you can spend your life, there's lots of ways to spend it, or you can invest your life. The greatest use of your life is to invest it in something
that will outlast it. Focus on what's gonna last. What's gonna last? There are only two things on this planet that are gonna last forever. This building isn't gonna last. The United States of
America isn't gonna last. Starbucks isn't gonna last. There are only two things
that are gonna last forever: the Word of God, and people. God's truth is eternal. It'll still be true a
million years from today. If it's true a million years ago, it'll be true a million
years in the future. God's Word is true. So it's gonna last forever. There's only one other thing that's gonna last
forever, oh yeah, people. One of two places: heaven or hell. What we do with our time now may determine their eternal destiny. So if you wanna invest your life in something that's gonna last, invest it in the Word
of God and in people. Get this book into your
mind, into your heart, and get people into God's family. In heaven, people will come
up to you and thank you. "I'm here because of you,
I'm eternally grateful. "I'm here because you cared enough, "you cared more about my
salvation than my present." This is the message of Jonah. This is your life mission. Let me just end with a couple verses, up here on the screen. Matthew six, Jesus says this: "Don't worry, don't worry about, "'Will we have enough to
eat or drink or wear?' "Because only people who don't know God "are always worrying about
those kind of things, "the temporary things of life." He goes, "Your Father in
heaven knows what you need, "'he knows you need
what, something to eat, "'something to drink, something to wear.'" He goes, "Your Father in
heaven knows what you need, "so instead, focus on
putting God's work first "and doing what he made you to do." That's called your life mission. "Focus on putting God's work first "and doing what he made you to do," your life mission, "and,"
here's the promise, "God'll make sure that you
have all these other things "that you need as well. "I'm gonna take care of your needs. "You don't have to worry about that. "If you're gonna worry about something, "worry about your life mission, "worry about putting God's Word, "worry about doing what
God wants you to do." Last verse on the screen,
II Corinthians chapter four. "We fix our eyes," that
means we focus our attention. "We fix our eyes not on what we see, "but on what we cannot see, "because what we see will
last only a short time, "but what we cannot
see will last forever." You can see this cup, but it's not gonna last forever. It'll eventually deteriorate,
rust, it'll fall apart. You can see this table, that it will eventually fall apart. This building will eventually crumble. Everything you see on
the earth is temporary, it's not gonna last. What's gonna last are the souls of people, and the Word of God. The eternal is invisible. He said, "That's the stuff that matters." Let's bow our heads. Father, you made each of us for a mission. You didn't put us here
to live for ourselves. We don't wanna waste our lives. We wanna make our lives count. Thank you for all these lessons from Jonah on what not to do. Now you pray. In your mind, say something
like this to God, say, "God, help me to remember "that when things don't go my way, "help me to remember that you can see "what I can't see. "Help me to trust your wisdom. "You know how it's all
gonna work out, and I don't. "I wanna trust your wisdom in my life. "God, when things don't go my way, "help me to remember
that you're good to me "even when I'm cranky, "and that there have been
many times in my life "that you've taken care of my discomfort "and I didn't even realize it. "You were being good to me "when I was totally ignoring you, sorry. "Help me to remember that
you are always a good God, "and that everything you do in my life "you do out of love. "God, help me to remember
that you're in control "of every detail, the big and the small. "Help me to remember that the disappoints "are his appointments, your appointments. "Lord, help me not to worry "about stuff that's not gonna last "and not gonna matter. "Help me not to worry and get stressed out "over temporary stuff, "but help me to focus on
what's really gonna last: "your Word and your people. "Today I'm committing the rest of my life "to discovering and developing "and fulfilling the purpose, the mission "that you made me for. "Jesus Christ, come into my life, "into every room in my heart. "Fill me with love and confidence. "I need your forgiveness. "Help me to forgive
those that have hurt me. "Help me to be as gracious with them "as you are with me. "Lord today, that person that's hurt me, "I am letting them go. "I know I'm gonna probably have to do it "over and over and over
'til it finally feels right, "but I'm letting them go, "I'm letting them off the hook, "because you've let me off the hook. "Thank you for your grace
and forgiveness to me, "and Jesus Christ, I wanna follow you "from here on out, in
your name I pray, amen." God bless you.
