Jonah is a prophet with a bad reputation.  When most people think of Jonah, they immediately think of the prophet who ran from God and got swallowed by a large fish.

Unfortunately, we remember Jonah for what he did wrong instead of what he did right.  This morning, we get to remember what Jonah did right!

In Jonah chapter 1, we saw Jonah running from God.  God told him to go to Nineveh and preach, and Jonah went the opposite direction!

As we looked at Jonah chapter 1, we saw ourselves.  We saw that just as Jonah ran from God, so do we.  And this is exactly why God gave us the book of Jonah.  The book of Jonah is about us.  It is about us human beings on the run from God.

The Bible is quite clear that we all run from God:  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” we read.

We look at Jonah running from God and we say, “I am just like Jonah!”   We see Jonah being thrown overboard into the raging sea to his death and we should say, “that is what I deserve, too!”

But we must remember that the story of Jonah does not end here.

We read at the end of chapter 1, in Jonah 1:17:  “And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”

You see, Jonah ran from God, but God wasn’t done with him.  Have you ever been on the run from God?  Are you on the run from God?  There is hope!  God is not done with you!

Just as God sent a great fish to swallow up Jonah, God is working to draw you back to himself.

Maybe you wouldn’t say that you are actively on the run from God.  Question: are you running toward Him?

Some people tend to think that as long as they are not purposefully running from God, they are all okay.  You’d almost get the idea that some people think that it is okay to not love God… as long as you don’t hate him.

May we be challenged this morning by Jesus’ command in Mark 12:30:  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

May we be challenged this morning by Jesus’ words in Revelation 2:4:  “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

Are you passionate about Jesus?  Do you love God with all your heart?  With all your soul?  With all your mind?  All your strength?

Maybe it is time to return to your first love.

When is that last time you contemplated that fact that there is so much more to knowing God than you are currently experiencing?

There is more!

Isn’t that wonderful!  We have not arrived!

So what can we do?  How can we return to God?

Fortunately, the Bible shows us in numerous places what to do.  And the promise is real! 

We read in James 4:8:  “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

What do we need to do to return to God?  This morning we are going to look at Jonah as our example.  Please turn with me to Jonah chapter 2.  Here we find Jonah’s prayer, and we see four things that we need to do to return to God.

The first thing that we see Jonah doing… and that we need to do…. is this: Park yourself in God’s presence.

In Jonah 2:1-2 we read: “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, "I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.”

Notice the verbs here: Jonah Prayed… Jonah called out to the Lord… Jonah cried out...

Do you feel dry spiritually?  Do you feel spiritually dead?  Have you been at a place with God before where you just felt so close to Him?  Do you remember what you are missing?  There is one proper way to respond – one proper way.  There is only one solution to spiritual emptiness.  Park yourself in God’s presence.

I am reminded of the numerous consumer-crazes of late.  Remember when the i-phone came out?  People lined up for hours to get their new i-phones!  Can you imagine parking yourself before a cingular store for 8 hours to get your hands on a new i-phone?  How about the new video game systems for which people will wait hours in line?  People will park themselves in line for these high-tech items that will be old news a few years later.

But will we park ourselves before God, who will never be outdated?  Will God ever be obsolete?

We waste our time on so many other things… but do we spend time seeking Him for whom time itself exists?

When is the last time you just parked yourself in the presence of God and said, “God!  I am empty!  I am dying, and I need you!”

Jonah’s life got so messed up that he ended up in the belly of a large fish!  You can bet that he was motivated to pray, right?  You can guess that he had the solitude that he needed?

Don’t wait that long.  Don’t wait ‘till you are all alone and have nowhere to go.  How sad that we would just sit back and watch our lives fall apart – watch our marriages disintegrate, watch our relationships go sour, watch our passion to live disappear… and still not park ourselves before God and cry out for help. 

For some people, they run from God, like Jonah, until there is not much deeper to go.  You don’t have to wait that long!  Seek God now!  Before things get worse!

Park yourself in the presence of God.  Don’t give up.  Don’t quit.  Park there.  Ask God - plead with God to save you. 

Please turn with me to Jonah 2:3.  Here we see that the second thing we can do is this: Recognize God’s Sovereignty.

We read:  “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.”

Something remarkable about Jonah is that he readily admits that God was behind all of the bad stuff.  Listen to him, “YOU cast me into the deep… YOUR waves and billows passed over me.”

A few days ago, Janelle and I were driving home from AWANA.  Josiah and Olivia were in the back seat expressing their hunger.  Janelle and I had already decided that we were going surprise Josiah and Olivia and just show up at their favorite restaurant (Yes, their favorite) – In-n-Out.  But as we are driving there, Josiah asked if he could have a bagel.  Being the loving father I am, I said, “No.”   Boy did that rile him up! 

“Why can’t I have a bagel!”  

I can’t help but think that we are so much like that with God!  God has great plans in store for us – plans that put In-n-Out to shame – and we can’t get our eyes off of something so temporary and fleeting as a dry bagel!  Well, I have to tell you that when we finally pulled into the In ‘n Out parking lot, Josiah forgot all about bagels.  All he wanted was a cheeseburger!  And I then explained to him that we were planning all along to go to In-n-Out – and that it was a surprise, and that this was why I wouldn’t let him fill up on a bagel.  It was one of those father-son moments.  Don’t you love it when your own kids have an ‘aha’ moment when they realize that you really do have their best interest in mind?

Sometimes life doesn’t give us what we want.  But do we recognize that God is sovereign and has something else planned for our good?

Do you recognize God’s sovereignty?

In Jonah’s case, it wasn’t just a matter of not getting a bagel because God was getting him something better.  Jonah was on the run from God!

Remember this: God disciplines those he loves.  When you are running from God, the storm that God brings into your life is for a purpose – to bring you back to God.

When life doesn’t hand us what we want, we need to know that God is working for our good.

We read in Romans 8:28:  “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Sometimes we forget that God has one purpose for us: to be close to Him.  After all, that is what is BEST for us, right?

Is there anything you need more than God?  No.  There is nothing. 

We even sing the song, “I’d rather have Jesus.”

I’d rather have Jesus than silver and gold.

I’d rather be his than have riches untold.

I’d rather have Jesus than houses and land.

I’d rather be lead by his nail-pierced hand.

But do we live it?

We often live as if the last thing we really want and need is God. 

God is sovereign! 

The bad things that God brings to us in discipline and even the bad things that God allows for no apparent reason – we need to recognize in these things the sovereignty of God and allow God to use those things to bring us closer to Him.

Jonah was wise; he recognized God’s sovereignty.  We’d do well to do the same.

And thirdly, consider Jonah 2:4-7.  Here’s we that we need to do: Acknowledge God’s promises.

We read:  "Then I said, 'I am driven away from your sight; Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.'  The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God.  When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple."

We are immediately reminded Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8:30:  “And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.”

Jonah no doubt is remembering Scripture, acknowledging the Lord’s promise to forgive and restore those who return to him.  Listen again to Jonah’s words in verse 4:  “Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.”

Jonah clearly realized that he had no hope except in the promises of God to forgive.  He knew from God’s Word that he could return to God and find salvation.

Shouldn’t we, too, remember God’s promises?  We have all experienced the reality that we ARE NOT who God wants us to be, right? 

Shouldn’t we come to him with Scripture on our lips?  Consider the promise that we have the forgiveness of sin!

In Ephesians 1:7 we have this promise:  “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”

And how about the promise that God will give us more of himself if we ask?

Consider Luke 11:13:  “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

And consider Matthew 7:7: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

Jonah was on the run from God, and in his prayer of repentance, he banked on the promises of God!  Shouldn’t we do the same?

Lastly, we see in Jonah 2:8-10 we need to, like Jonah: Yield to God’s will.

We read:  " Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.  But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!"  And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land."

It is clear that Jonah is here yielding to God’s will.  A big part of repentance is obedience!  True repentance involves obedience to the known will of God.  Can you imagine Jonah, “God, please save me from death… save me… but I’m still NOT going to Nineveh!”

That is ridiculous, isn’t it?  If we want to return to God, we will yield to God’s will.  Maybe you are here this morning saying to yourself, “I know exactly what it is I need to do to obey God.  I know exactly what it means for me, today, to yield to God’s will.”

If that is you, I want to encourage you – make up your mind right now to yield to God!

Sometimes we have to choose between two things.  We have to pick what we want the most:  Do we want a close relationship with the God who created us, or are we holding on to something else? We can’t juggle both.  Here’s a profound video to illustrate the point.  I hope you take this to heart.

(VIDEO:  “Put Down The Duckie”)

Put down the duckie!  If we want to return to an intimate walk with God, we have to leave behind our sin.  We have to yield to God!

What is separating you from God today?  Whatever it is, give it up.  Life is not all about playing the sax, is it?  Knowing God is what really matters, right?  Isn’t that what life is all about?

It’s funny – in the video, the owl insists that Ernie can just go ahead and pick up his duckie after he is done playing the sax.

I have a question: why would he want to do that?  If I could play the sax like that without a duckie, I’d want nothing to do with duckies forevermore!

God gives us choices to make.  We can return to our sin.  But why?

Why would we want to return to that which was preventing us from living in the first place?

Put down the duckie!

Yield to God.

That is what Jonah did.

Jonah was messed up.  His life was in the darkness and the deep…. And God saved him.  What did Jonah do to return to God?

In a nutshell, Jonah decided to pray. 

Won’t we do the same?

Let’s pray.