Bible Text: Jonah 1:17-2:10 | Preacher: Pastor Joe Ricchuiti | Series: Jonah, The Man That Got Away – A Fish’s Tale

1.  Earlier Jonah had sought to flee the presence of the Lord, now he desperately seeks God’s presence as expressed in his prayer of Jonah chapter 2.

2.  Jonah realizes that God is disciplining him:

-“Trouble does its best work when it drives us to God.” (Peterson)

-“We say, sorrow, disaster, calamity.  God says, chastening…and it sounds sweet to Him though it is a discord to our ears.”  (Chambers)

-“when a man gets to despair he knows that all his thinking will never get him out.  He will get out only by the sheer creative effort of God.  Consequently he is in the right attitude to receive from God that which he cannot gain for himself.” (Chambers)

-“In the Chinese picture-letter alphabet, the symbol for crisis is a combination of two characters—one meaning ‘danger’ and the other ‘opportunity. You can look at it either way.” (Daily walk Bible)

3.  Principles of discipline from Hebrews 5 & 12: every believer is disciplined by God; discipline is a mark of God’s love; discipline is a proof of God’s Fatherhood; discipline is a proof of our sonship; discipline trains us in righteousness; discipline teaches us obedience; discipline is meant to restore us, renew us, not to harm us; discipline is not pleasant at the time, it’s hard to see it as and expression of God’s love.

4.   “God can use you.  Just as you are.  In spite of your emotional struggles.  In spite of your ‘poor track record.’  He know your frame; he remembers that you are made of dust (Psalm 103:14).  And even now He can work through your life to encourage other believers and to bring others who do not know Him into the family of God.” (Old Testament Personalities)