Swimming With Jonah: Running From God
https://sermons4kids.com/jonah_runs_from_god.htm#:~:text=He%20caught%20the%20first%20ship,God%2C%20but%20you%20cannot%20hide.Hello Friends,
How are you doing today? Can you believe that Summer is almost half-way over…. I think we should pray to God asking for a few more days of Summer. What do you think?
For the next few weeks, we are going to traveling with man who disobeyed God, ran from God, got swallowed up by a large fish, and then decided to listen to God. Do you know who I am talking about? “JONAH!” That is correct! And to help us better understand Jonah, we are going to swim with him for the next few weeks as we try to figure out what he is trying to teach us. How does that sound?
Jonah was a prophet of God; he would listen to God and tell the people what God said. One day, God said to Jonah, “Go to the city of Nineveh and tell the people who live there that they are a very wicked people and that they need to change their ways.” Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh.
He didn’t like the people in that city, and maybe he was afraid of them. So Jonah decided to run away and hide from God. He caught the first ship out of town and headed in the opposite direction from where God told him to go.
Jonah learned a very important lesson that day. He learned that you might run from God, but you cannot hide from God. Jonah got on that ship and hid way down deep inside the ship. He even decided to take a nap. “Surely God won’t find me here,” Jonah thought.
But God sent a big storm and tossed that ship around so much that the other sailors thought they were going to drown. They found Jonah in the bottom of the ship and asked him, “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
Jonah answered, “I am a worshiper of the God of heaven, who made the land and the sea.” Jonah told the sailors that he was running from God because he didn’t want to go to Nineveh as God had told him to do.
When the sailors learned that Jonah was running from God, they were even more afraid. “What should we do to stop this terrible storm?” the sailors asked.
“Throw me overboard into the sea,” Jonah answered, “and the sea will become calm.” The sailors picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea and the storm stopped at once.
Just as God had something for Jonah to do, he has a plan for you and me. I hope we will learn a lesson from Jonah. When it comes to doing what God wants us to do, we might run, but we cannot hide from God!
Let Us Pray: God, we know we can’t hide from You. You know what we do and what we think. Give us the strength and courage to do all the things that You want us to do. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Friend, Holy Spirit!
This message was inspired by Sermons4kids.com (https://sermons4kids.com/jonah_runs_from_god.htm#:~:text=He%20caught%20the%20first%20ship,God%2C%20but%20you%20cannot%20hide)
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