Before You Give Up and Quit Print

Pastor David Koop 

Jonah is a classic Bible story. In the first chapter Jonah ran away from God. In the second chapter, he ran back to God. In the third chapter he ran with God and in the fourth chapter he ran ahead of God.

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Jesus spoke about the sign of Jonah.

Luke 11:29
As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, “These are evil times, and this evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

  • God cares about the outcasts, our enemies, the poor, the foreigners, the sinners, the brokenhearted, the sick and the tormented.
  • The greatest sign this world ever have is the resurrection of Christ after three days in the grave.

Jonah, like many of us, wanted to give up on what God had for him but God intervened and did not let him quit.

Jonah was not the only character in the Bible who wanted to quit on the assignment God had given him.

  1. Moses wanted to quit when the people he was leading were complaining.
    1. Numbers 11:14,15
      “I can’t take care of all these people by myself. This is too much work for me! If this is how you’re going to treat me, why don’t you just kill me? I can’t face this trouble anymore.”
  2. Elijah wanted to quit after his biggest victory.
    1. 1 Kings 19:4
      Then he went on alone into the desert, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”
  3. Peter quit after the resurrection and the biggest failure in his life.
    1. John 21:3
      “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.

What did these men have in common?

  1. They all wanted to quit after experiencing success in their spiritual lives.
  2. They all had a problem with the people God had put in their lives.
  3. God in His grace met them where they were at not were they should be.
  4. God did not quit on them. He still believed in them and had more for them to do. (2 Timothy 2:13 If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful because He cannot be untrue to Himself.)

What can we learn from Jonah in this situation?

  1. He acknowledged where he was. He had lost communion with God. See Jonah 2:4.
  2. He went back to the basics. He prayed the Psalms. Look at Jonah 2:2 and listen to Psalm 18:4-6. Look at Jonah 2:4 and listen to Psalm 31:22. The reason that Jonah prays the Psalms is that he knew the Psalms by memory. When we are in the belly of the fish, we don’t have much mental energy to make up our own prayers, so we go with what we have hid in our hearts. (Psalm 119:11) When we can’t find the words, pray God’s word.
  3. He gave a sacrifice of thanksgiving in the worst of circumstances.
    1. Jonah 2:9
      “But I’m worshiping you, God, calling out in thanksgiving! And I’ll do what I promised I’d do! Salvation (victory) belongs to God!”
  4. He surrendered to God’s plans.
    1. God answers us in stages, not all of which are comfortable.
    2. Psalm 37:23
      The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD. He delights in every detail of their lives.
    3. Psalm 37:4
      Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

What is our assignment?

1 Peter 2:9
However, you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God. You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.