The Problem with FEAR and SELF-PITY
Study #1 I am afraid to go! Jonah
Fear is something that most Christians struggle with. There
are many fears in this world. In this study we are going to take a look at
Jonah. Many of us have read this book and fear does not come to mind. But Jonah
was afraid to do what God had asked him to do. He was so afraid that his fear
made him run the other direction. Fear all so caused another emotion that we
fall into, Self-Pity. How often do we do the wrong thing and then feal sorry
for ourselves. It seems that fear is the start of a lot of negative emotions.
"When God
sent him to warn the pagan city of Nineveh to turn from it's ways, Jonah bolted
in the opposite direction. But God used a violent storm, a swimming lesson, and
a Mediterranean cruise inside a huge fish to give Jonah a second Chance. Jonah
then carried God's message to Nineveh, and thousands of lives were changed-
through Jonah's attitude was still out of line. As you read this book, notice
how God uses people like us for good in spite of our faults." Recovery
Devotional Bible pg. 987
Read Jonah 1:1-3
1. Who was Jonah?
2. What do we know about the people of Nineveh?
3. What caused Jonah to run away from the Lord and go the
opposite direction?
4. What things cause us to run away from the Lord?
Have you ever felt God leading you somewhere or leading you
to reach out to someone and your response was no way God? Jonah knew that these
people were bad folks, he might of been scared to go because he thought they
would kill him. Or maybe he did not think they deserved God's grace. In any
case, we see that his fear drove him to run the other direction.
Read Jonah 1:4-17
1. What was the consequences of Jonah's fear and
disobedience?
2. Did his actions just effect Jonah, or did it all so
effect others?
3. In your life, how has your fear effected you and others
around you?
"Perhaps when Jonah told the sailors to throw him
overboard, he was making a bold statement of his faith in himself: It's all my
fault. I blew it. I'm no good. I might as well be dead." These words and
feelings sound very familiar to our actions, but destructive to berate
ourselves. Even in the midst of Jonah's self-pity, God saved his life.
Similarly, God continues to care about us, even when we don't." Recovery
Devotional Bible pg.989
"When
the call of God came to him, Jonah could not see beyond his own selfish desire
for God to punish the Assyrians. How could God want him to take a message of
mercy to such people? Before Jonah could relay God’s message, he had to be
broken. He had to learn something about the mercy of the Lord. Through his
flight to Tarshish, his shipwreck, and his time in the great fish, Jonah was
convinced in a powerful way that all salvation comes from the Lord (Jonah 2:9).
And because of God’s supreme power, only God decides where to pour out His
salvation and His mercy (4:11). - See more at:
http://www.insight.org/resources/bible/jonah.html#sthash.ulRS7qfy.dpuf
Read Jonah 2
1. How would you sum up Jonah's prayer?
2. Did God listen to Jonah's prayer?
3. Was there a time in your life that you prayed a prayer of
desperation and God listened?
God had to bring Jonah to a place that he was ready to cry
out to Him. We see God's Grace and Mercy here towards Jonah. There has been
times in my life that I have really messed up and have been in the pit, but God
heard my cry and showed great Grace and Mercy towards me. None of us deserve
God to rescue us in times when we have sinned, but our God is a great God and
He rescues us even when we don't deserve it.
Read Jonah 3
1. When has God given you a second chance and you obeyed
Him?
2. Was what God asked of Jonah an easy task?
3. What was the response of the King?
Again, we see God's Grace and Mercy. The people of Nineveh
repented and God had compassion on them. God wants to do this today. He wants
us to tell our friends and family about Him so they have the opportunity to
repent and come to Him. Maybe today a Nineveh to you is the homeless man, or
the drunk, or the drug addict, or the needy family, or God might be calling you
to do something in Church you just don't want to do. For us even talking to our
neighbors about Christ is scary business.
Read Jonah 4
"Why was Jonah so angry? Because God didn't do
things Jonah's way. Jonah wanted God to show compassion only to the Hebrews,
and to punish the people of Nineveh. But God had something better in mind: he
wanted to extend his love to everyone, even Israel's enemies. While Jonah had
every right to feel his feelings, he did not have the right to tell God which
hoop to Jump through. How freeing it ca be for us to let go of our attempts to
control God, and instead trust that His purposes are just and good."
Recovery Devotional Bible pg.990
1. Why was Jonah so angry?
2. Have you ever been angry at God? How did that work out
for you?
3. Why did Jonah want to die?
4. Has there been a time in your life that you had fear and
that fear became self-pity?
5. Have you seen yourself in Jonah?
At the end of the book God tells Jonah that he was concerned
about a vine and yet it seemed that he did not care about the lives of the
people in Nineveh. Fear caused Jonah to run and fear devolved into self-pity.
Once he obeyed things did not turn out the way he thought they should. How
often does that happen in our lives. We see in this book that God's ways are
not all ways our ways. Jonah is a good lesson for us. We need to be careful not
to act in our fears. Fears ignite other emotions. A big one is self-pity. Other
folks in the Bible struggled with this to. Take some time out of your day and
ask God to help you to obey Him even when you are scared. Jonah does not end on
a positive note. We don't know how he finally responded. But we can respond in
a different way. Even if we have been like Jonah in the past, we can change out
attitudes and move forward with God. We need to rejoice when anyone comes to
the saving knowledge of Christ. Some times it would be easy to only want people
like us coming to Him. But His Grace and Mercy is for all! We need to be
willing to do what God asks of us even if it is not in our plans!
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