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JOHNORTBERGON JONAH

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2 Session 1: Dealing with Our Doubts Participant’s Guide

8 Session 2: Pray, Pray, Pray Participant’s Guide

15 Session 3: Jonah as a Foreshadow of Jesus Participant’s Guide

20 Session 4: Recognize Your Own Jonah Moments Participant’s Guide

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As a group, watch clip one. After the clip is finished, discuss the following questions together.

Note To Leader: Encourage your group to read the Book of Jonah before coming to the first session. Provide each person with the Participant’s Guide included at the end of this study. Open this session with the first video clip, then ask the following questions.

P a r t O n e

Identify the Issue

[Q] Have you read the Book of Jonah all the way

through? If so, what was your impression of it?

[Q] What do you think is the main message of the Book

of Jonah?

[Q] Do you get hung up on the fish part of the story?

Why or why not?

[Q] Does any other part of the story surprise you? If so,

what?

Do you have trouble believing the impossible?

When we read stories in

Scripture that stretch our

imagination, we often

have trouble believing

them. Jonah is one of

those stories. It’s full of

one miraculous, outlandish

thing after another. So what

do we do with the doubts

that niggle within us?

Scripture: The Book of

Jonah

Featuring: The sermon

“Desperate for God,”

by John Ortberg,

PreachingToday.com

Dealingwith OurDoubts

Session 1

LEADER’S GUIDE



www.preachingtoday.com


Session 1: Leader’s Guide | Dealing with Our Doubts | 3

Teaching Point One: Get to know Jonah’s world.

The Book of Jonah was probably written autobiographically by the prophet Jonah, which gives

us great hope that he learned much through his experience. Most likely written between 785 and

750 B.C., the book focuses on the political rivalries of the day.

At this point in history, Israel had divided into a northern kingdom, which continued to go by

the name of Israel, and a southern kingdom that went by the name of Judah. Jonah lived in the

northern kingdom, which was ruled by Jeroboam II, a king of Israel who did not honor God. Yet,

God allowed Israel to continue to expand its territory, causing them to feel great patriotic pride

in their nation. But Assyria, whose key city was Nineveh, was a brutal enemy that threatened

Israel’s power. In fact, just a few decades after Jonah went to preach to Nineveh, Assyria invaded

Israel and brought the northern kingdom to an end.

This gives us some insight into why Jonah was so reluctant to go to Nineveh. It might be similar

to God asking someone from London to go preach to Berlin during World War II with the promise

that all would be forgiven if they would repent. The Londoner would likely rather see them tried

for their crimes.

[Q] Can you think of any other modern-day examples of what it might have been like for

Jonah to preach to Nineveh?

[Q] Comparing Jonah’s experience to these modern-day examples, how do you think you

would have responded to God’s command? Why?

[Q] Read Jonah 1:1–3 and 3:6–4:3. Do you understand Jonah’s attitude? Why do you think he

felt that way?

Teaching Point Two: Don’t get lost in the debates and miss the point.

As soon as Jonah got his orders from God, he ran. Most of us can understand that, when we put

it into our own historical context. What may be harder to understand is how God dealt with it.

Read Jonah 1:7–17.

God sent a storm that Jonah recognized as punishment for his disobedience. So in a great show

of self-sacrifice, Jonah asked the sailors to throw him overboard. It worked. The raging sea

calmed. But Jonah was left drifting in the ocean, so God sent a fish to swallow him, keeping

Jonah alive (though not exactly comfortable).





[Q] John Ortberg dismisses studies made to identify a fish that

a person could live in for three days. Do you think such

studies matter? Why or why not?

[Q] Why might it be better, as Ortberg says, to believe that

miracles are possible?

[Q] Even if we explain away the fish, what do we do with the

fact that the storm ceased as soon as the sailors threw

Jonah into the sea?

[Q] Why do you think Jonah was so sure the storm was his

fault?

[Q] When you hear stories of miraculous events in Scripture,

what is your first reaction?

uCheck other translations to make sure the account is

correct.

uLook up similar stories outside of Scripture to explain

it.

uSimply believe it.

uStruggle with the idea, but finally accept it.

uOther.

[Q] How can we deal with the doubts we have about Scripture,

or about how God works?

[Q] Are doubts good or bad? Explain.

[Q] When does a healthy doubt become unhealthy? What line is

crossed when this happens?

P a r t T w o

Apply Your Findings John Ortberg concluded his introduction with the statement, “God is always up to something great.”

We certainly see that in the Book of Jonah. As we study this book, we will see more and more of what

God’s heart is toward his people and those outside his fold.

Considerdoing this activityduring your time

together

Optional Activity

d Purpose: To help us think through

what to do with our doubts.

d Activity: Make sure everyone has a

pen and paper. Ask each person to write down any story in Scripture they presently have, or at one time had, trouble accepting or believing. What about this account gives them trouble? Why?

Now ask each person to write down a miraculous story they don’t have trouble believing. What is the difference? Why is this one easier to accept than the one they struggle with?

Finally, if anyone would like to share their doubts, discuss them as a group.





Action Point: Set aside time this week to think through your doubts about Scripture

or about God himself. Read Psalms 42 and 43. Write down all the things the psalmist

struggled with in these passages. Do you struggle with those things too? Note how the

psalmist expressed doubts freely to God. Note also how he ended the psalms. Write down

your own prayer to God, including your doubts. End it as the psalmist did: with trust and

praise to God, even when you don’t understand everything.

—Study by JoHannah Reardon




Do you have trouble believing the impossible?

When we read stories in

Scripture that stretch our

imagination, we often

have trouble believing

them. Jonah is one of

those stories. It’s full of

one miraculous, outlandish

thing after another. So what

do we do with the doubts

that niggle within us?


Jonah



by John Ortberg,

PreachingToday.com

Dealingwith OurDoubts

P a r t O n e

Identify the Issue

Teaching Point One: Get to know Jonah’s world.

Teaching Point Two: Don’t get lost in the debates and miss the point.

[Q] When you hear stories of miraculous events in

Scripture, what is your first reaction?

uCheck other translations to make sure the

account is correct.

uLook up similar stories outside of Scripture

to explain it.

uSimply believe it.

uStruggle with the idea, but finally accept it.

uOther.

PARTICIPANT’S GUIDE

Session 1





Session 1: Participant’s Guide | Dealing with Our Doubts | 7

P a r t T w o

Apply Your Findings Action Point: Set aside time this week to think through your doubts about Scripture

or about God himself. Read Psalms 42 and 43. Write down all the things the psalmist

struggled with in these passages. Do you struggle with those things too? Note how the

psalmist expressed doubts freely to God. Note also how he ended the psalms. Write down

your own prayer to God, including your doubts. End it as the psalmist did: with trust and

praise to God, even when you don’t understand everything.





Note To Leader: Provide each person with the Participant’s Guide included at the end of this study. Open this session with the second video clip, then ask the following questions.

P a r t O n e

Identify the Issue

[Q] What has been the lowest point of your life so far? Did

it cause you to turn to God? Why or why not?

[Q] Have you ever been in a situation where you could

do nothing but pray? Was that a good or a frustrating

place to be? Explain.

[Q] How would you rate the importance of prayer

compared to other aspects of a person’s spiritual life,

such as Bible reading, church attendance, sharing

your faith, and so on?

We can learn from Jonah to pray no matter what the circumstances.

John Ortberg says, “Have you ever been in over your head in life? Pray. Is it your own fault? Pray anyway. Have you not been living the kind of life you think God wants you to live? Pray anyway. Are you concerned that even if you were to pray, your motives might be mixed—that you might be more concerned about your own well-being than you are about God’s will? Pray anyway. God is never more than a prayer away. One of the amazing things about God is that he is a gracious God. When we come to him simply because we’ve hit bottom with no place else to go, God still chooses to say, ‘Come to me.’”

Scripture: The Book of Jonah

Featuring: The sermon “Desperate for God,” by John Ortberg, PreachingToday.com

Pray, Pray,Pray

Session 2

LEADER’S GUIDE

As a group, watch clip two. After the clip is finished, discuss the following questions together.





Session 2: Leader’s Guide | Pray, Pray, Pray | 9

[Q] What kind of prayer habits do you have? Describe them to us.

[Q] What would an ideal prayer life look like in your opinion?

Teaching Point One: Prayer starts with recognizing God’s greatness and our need.

Read Jonah 2.

It’s interesting that Jonah saw being swallowed by a fish as a rescue. Evidently he was confident

that he was going to live, even though he was in a very uncomfortable and unpredictable place!

Imagine the astonishment he must have felt when his life was ebbing away and he was saved in

such an unusual manner.

[Q] Ortberg mentions that Jonah had not prayed until he was in this crisis. Why do you think

it took something so drastic to get Jonah to pray?

[Q] What is the nature of this prayer—what is it about?

[Q] How does this prayer reflect both Jonah’s need and God’s greatness?

[Q] Give an example of a time you have prayed in a way that reflected your need and God’s

greatness.

Teaching Point Two: Don’t let fear, shame, guilt, or pride keep you from praying.

Ortberg says, “Have you ever been in over your head in life? Pray. Is it your own fault? Pray

anyway. Have you not been living the kind of life you think God wants you to live? Pray anyway.

Are you concerned that even if you were to pray, your motives might be mixed—that you might

be more concerned about your own well-being than you are about God’s will? Pray anyway. God

is never more than a prayer away. One of the amazing things about God is that he is a gracious

God. When we come to him simply because we’ve hit bottom with no place else to go, God still

chooses to say, ‘Come to me.’”

[Q] What most often keeps you from praying?

[Q] Why do we often resist prayer when that’s what we need the most?

[Q] I am most likely to pray when:

uFeeling guilty

uFeeling overwhelmed





uFeeling relaxed

uFeeling satisfied

uFeeling afraid

uOther

Teaching Point Three: Develop habits of prayer.

The best way to make sure you pray is to make it a regular habit.

You may be wondering how in the world to fit it into your busy life.

Most of us can find a way to do it.

You may have to say no to some other things in your schedule. It

might be as simple as keeping the TV or computer off and refusing

to answer the phone one night a week. Or you may have to say no

to some good area of service to gain the necessary time in God’s

presence.

A good way to start a consistent prayer habit is to find a regular

block of time during the week to simply meditate on God’s Word in

solitude and silence. If you have young children at home, finding

solitude and silence is tough. Maybe your husband or a friend

would be willing to watch them for an hour while you sit in a

park, take a walk, or sit in an empty church. We find babysitters

for everything else, why not for some much-needed solitude and

silence? Susanna Wesley had at least nine children home at one

time. Her famous sons John and Charles Wesley remembered that

to practice solitude, she would throw her apron over her head. Her

children would grow silent, because they knew she was praying.

But however or whenever you find the time, just do it. Of course,

we don’t have to limit our prayers to a specially set-aside time. We

can do it at any time, in any circumstances.

[Q] Think back to when you last took time to pray. What happened? Did God show up? Was it just

boring? Did you fall asleep? What were you expecting? Did it live up to your expectations?

Why or why not?


together

Optional Activity

d Purpose: To help us think through

why we fail to pray.

d Activity: Give reasons why each of

the following people might fail to pray:

• Karen knows that God wants her to break up with her boyfriend.

• John is so busy at work that he never has a moment to himself.

• Bev is scared that she is going to lose her job.

• Walt loves his life right now.

• Richard feels like he’s a bad father.

Now go through the list again and suggest what praying could do for each person.





[Q] What should we expect from a time of prayer? What’s the purpose of it?

Leader’s Note: If you impatiently expect great gems each time you meet with God, you will be terribly disappointed and lose interest. Instead, it has to be all about being with him, the way you would want to be with anyone you love.

[Q] What should we do if our mind wanders or we get distracted?

Leader’s Note: Don’t feel guilty if your mind wanders and you end up thinking about daily chores. When you realize your thoughts are drifting, just start being available to hear God’s voice again. That’s why doing this with an open Bible on your lap is best. It helps keep us focused and we have God’s literal word speaking to us through his timeless truth.

[Q] Should prayer be mostly talking or listening? Explain.

P a r t T w o

Apply Your Findings In his book The Divine Commodity, Skye Jethani shares a story from a trip he took to India with

his father. While they were walking the streets of New Delhi, a little boy approached them. He was

“skinny as a rail, and naked but for tattered blue shorts. His legs were stiff and contorted, like a wire

hanger twisted upon itself.” Because of his condition, the little boy could only waddle along on his

calloused knees. He made his way toward Skye and his father and cried out, “One rupee, please! One

rupee!” Skye describes what happened when his father eventually responded to the boy’s persistent

begging:

“What do you want?” [my father asked].

“One rupee, sir,” the boy said while motioning his hand to his mouth and bowing his head in

deference. My father laughed.

“How about I give you five rupees?” he said. The boy’s submissive countenance suddenly became

defiant. He retracted his hand and sneered at us. He thought my father was joking, having

a laugh at his expense. After all, no one would willingly give up five rupees. The boy started

shuffling away, mumbling curses under his breath.





My father reached into his pocket. Hearing the coins jingle, the boy stopped and looked back

over his shoulder. My father was holding out a five-rupee coin. He approached the stunned boy

and placed the coin into his hand. The boy didn’t move or say a word. He just stared at the coin

in his hand. We passed him and proceeded to cross the street.

A moment later the shouting resumed, except this time the boy was yelling, “Thank you! Thank

you, sir! Bless you!” He raced after us once again—but not for more money but to touch my

father’s feet. …

This, I imagine, is how our God sees us—as miserable creatures in desperate need of his help.

But rather than asking for what we truly need, rather than desiring what he is able and willing to

give, we settle for lesser things.1

Action Point: Set aside a regular time of prayer this week. Start by reading something

like Psalm 63, Matthew 5:1–16, or Colossians 3:1–17. Read the passage and then sit

quietly for at least half an hour. Tell God you are willing to hear whatever he wants you

to know. If you’ve never done this before, it’s going to seem incredibly long, but stick it

out. Don’t feel like you have to do all the talking. Just listen. If your mind wanders, that’s

okay. You are in God’s presence and willing to hear from him. He’ll let you know what’s

important. Set aside at least a half hour each week (more if possible) and make it a firm

discipline.


1 Skye Jethani, The Divine Commodity (Zondervan, 2009), pp. 113–114.




P a r t O n e

Identify the Issue

Teaching Point One: Prayer starts with recognizing God’s greatness and our need.

Teaching Point Two: Don’t let fear, shame, guilt, or pride keep you from praying.

[Q] I am most likely to pray when:

uFeeling guilty

uFeeling overwhelmed

uFeeling relaxed

uFeeling satisfied

uFeeling afraid

uOther

Teaching Point Three: Develop habits of prayer.

Pray, Pray,PrayWe can learn from Jonah to pray no matter what the circumstances.

John Ortberg says, “Have you ever been in over your head in life? Pray. Is it your own fault? Pray anyway. Have you not been living the kind of life you think God wants you to live? Pray anyway. Are you concerned that even if you were to pray, your motives might be mixed—that you might be more concerned about your own well-being than you are about God’s will? Pray anyway. God is never more than a prayer away. One of the amazing things about God is that he is a gracious God. When we come to him simply because we’ve hit bottom with no place else to go, God still chooses to say, ‘Come to me.’”



Session 2






Session 2: Participant’s Guide | Pray, Pray, Pray | 14

P a r t T w o

Apply Your Findings Action Point: Set aside a regular time of prayer this week. Start by reading something

like Psalm 63, Matthew 5:1–16, or Colossians 3:1–17. Read the passage and then sit

quietly for at least half an hour. Tell God you are willing to hear whatever he wants you

to know. If you’ve never done this before, it’s going to seem incredibly long, but stick it

out. Don’t feel like you have to do all the talking. Just listen. If your mind wanders, that’s

okay. You are in God’s presence and willing to hear from him. He’ll let you know what’s

important. Set aside at least a half hour each week (more if possible) and make it a firm

discipline.





Note To Leader: Provide each person with the Participant’s Guide included at the end of this study. Open this session with the third video clip, then ask the following questions.

P a r t O n e

Identify the Issue

[Q] John Ortberg mentions the humor of Jonah being

vomited onto land by a fish. What other instances of

humor do you see in the Book of Jonah? What about

the rest of the Bible?

[Q] Why would God use something humorous to make a

point?

[Q] Can you think of a time when God corrected you in a

humorous way? If so, tell us about it.

Session 3

Jonah as a Foreshadow of JesusThere are many parallels between Jonah’s and Jesus’ stories.

John Ortberg says, “The message of Jonah is a little foretaste of the victory of Jesus who comes to meet us at the lowest place, telling us that death loses, sin loses, sorrow loses, sadness loses—and joy wins. ‘Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Grave, is your sting?’ God gets the last laugh. This is the story of Jonah.”



LEADER’S GUIDE

As a group, watch clip three. After the clip is finished, discuss the following questions together.





Session 3: Leader’s Guide | Jonah As a Foreshadow of Jesus | 16

[Q] If Jonah wrote this book, which is likely, why would he tell this story highlighting his

failures?

[Q] What evidence is there that God is up to something great while Jonah is going through one

misery after another? At what point do you think Jonah started to understand what God

was doing?

[Q] What comfort do you find in the Book of Jonah?

Teaching Point One: Stiff-necked, rebellious, stubborn humans are not a problem for God.

Ortberg says, “From God’s perspective, death and the grave and Sheol are not problems at all.

Stiff-necked, rebellious, stubborn humans are not a problem. God laughs at it all. This is why

Jonah ends up getting vomited onto the shore. It’s a way to say that joy wins—that the Book of

Jonah is a book of joy. It is comical in the most sublime, transcendent, wonderful sense of that

word.”

It just goes to show that God thinks very differently than we do—in the way he sees something

humorous or in the way he sees judgment. N. T. Wright, author and Bishop of Durham in the

Church of England, says, “The word judgment carries negative overtones for a good many people

in our liberal and post-liberal world. We need to remind ourselves that throughout the Bible God’s

coming judgment is a good thing, something to be celebrated, longed for, yearned over. It causes

people to shout for joy and the trees of the field to clap their hands. In a world of systematic

injustice, bullying, violence, arrogance, and oppression, the thought that there might come a day

when the wicked are firmly put in their place and the poor and weak are given their due is the best

news there can be. Faced with a world in rebellion, a world full of exploitation and wickedness, a

good God must be a God of judgment.”

For perspective on this, read Micah 4:1–5.

[Q] Name some positive things concerning judgment according to this passage.

[Q] Micah wrote this book for the Israelites, who had been conquered and were in exile. How

might this passage have made them feel?

[Q] So God thinks differently than we do about discipline and judgment. What other things

might God think about differently than we do?

[Q] How can we learn to recognize when God is disciplining us?





Teaching Point Two: The message of Jonah is a foretaste of the victory of Jesus.

God often gives us a story for more than one reason. Ortberg talks about the parallels between

Jesus’ life and Jonah’s life. Some of the parallels he mentions are:

u Jonah was from a town called Gath-hepher, which is a few miles away from

Nazareth, where Jesus was from.

u Jonah was asleep on a boat in a storm while everybody else on the boat panicked.

When they woke him, the storm was stilled by his actions. Jesus slept through a

storm, then stilled it with a word (Matt. 8:23–27).

u Jonah’s name means “the dove”—a name that also means “given to a beloved one.”

When Jesus was baptized, a dove descended and a voice from heaven said, “This is

my beloved Son” (Matt. 3:16–17).

uToward the end of his life, Jesus

said he had one sign to give this

tragic world. He called it the sign

of Jonah, referring to his being

restored to life after three days

(Matt. 16:4).

[Q] Can you think of any other parallels?

Leader’s Note: Some other things people may mention is that Jonah preached good news to a lost people, ending in their salvation. Or that Jonah’s life is an example of God’s mercy and judgment, as is Jesus’ life.

[Q] What encouragement do you find in an

Old Testament story that foretells what

Jesus would do centuries later?

[Q] Why would the early believers, who had

to meet in the catacombs (underground

tombs) for their safety, find so much

comfort in the story of Jonah?


together

OptionalActivity

d Purpose: To help us understand that in the kingdom of God,

death precedes life.

d Activity: You will need a sharp knife, cutting board, ingredients

for making salsa (or your favorite fresh food dish), and possibly a way to distribute the food.

Begin by asking people what their favorite food is and what ingredients go into making that dish. Then pull out the ingredients for your dish (in this case, ingredients for fresh salsa). Use a sharp knife to chop, mince, and mix the tomatoes, green chilies, onions, and cilantro. As you do so, point out how the fruits and vegetables “began a slow death” when picked from their plants, and how with each slice they die even further. As the salsa gets close to being finished, talk about how something must die to bring life. Tell them: For us to live physically, we must eat things that have died. The tomatoes and the onions had to die to bring both the sustenance and the flavor we need for life. Serve everyone a small portion of salsa and chips, and continue to discuss how we have to die in order to have life.





Teaching Point Three: The hope that Jonah found is our hope, too.

Ortberg says, “What if when the dead in Christ shall rise, when disease and aging cease, when

cancer and heart disease fall away, when AIDS and dementia have done their worst, when we go

all the way down into the grave and come back out on the other side—what if in that day life is so

good, our healing and redemption is so complete, our new bodies are so wonderful, the community

of the saints is so rich, our fellowship with God is so sweet that we look at each other and say, ‘This

is what I was afraid of? I thought death was going to be awful. It’s nothing at all! It’s a joke! It has no

power before God! It’s just a door to life!’ That’s the message of the Book of Jonah.”

[Q] What do you most look forward to when you think about leaving this earth?

[Q] What do you most fear about leaving this earth?

[Q] Read Romans 6:4–10. How does Jonah’s story parallel your own death and new life?

Apply Your Findings Frederick Buechner says in his book Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC, “The New Testament

proclaims that at some unforeseeable time in the future, God will ring down the final curtain on

history, and there will come a Day on which all our days and all the judgments upon us and all our

judgments upon each other will themselves be judged. The judge will be Christ. In other words, the

one who judges us most finally will be the one who loves us most fully.”1

Action Point: On your own this week, using a concordance or BibleGateway.com, look

up as many verses as you can find on heaven. Write down what you learn and share it

with a friend. Tell that person how this study changed your idea of what heaven is going

to be like.


1 Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC (Harper Collins, 1993), p. 58.




P a r t O n e

Identify the Issue

Teaching Point One: Stiff-necked, rebellious, stubborn humans are not a problem for God.

Teaching Point Two: The message of Jonah is a foretaste of the victory of Jesus.

Teaching Point Three: The hope that Jonah found is our hope, too.

P a r t T w o

Apply Your Findings Action Point: On your own this week, using a

concordance or BibleGateway.com, look up as many

verses as you can find on heaven. Write down what

you learn and share it with a friend. Tell that person

how this study changed your idea of what heaven is

going to be like.


Session 3

Jonah as a Foreshadow of JesusThere are many parallels between Jonah’s and Jesus’ stories.

John Ortberg says, “The message of Jonah is a little foretaste of the victory of Jesus who comes to meet us at the lowest place, telling us that death loses, sin loses, sorrow loses, sadness loses—and joy wins. ‘Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Grave, is your sting?’ God gets the last laugh. This is the story of Jonah.”








Note To Leader: Provide each person with the Participant’s Guide included at the end of this study. Open this session with the fourth video clip, then ask the following questions.

P a r t O n e

Identify the Issue

[Q] What about Jonah’s story sounds similar to your own?

[Q] What are some ways that we can set up a practice of

listening to God so that he won’t have to take such

drastic measures with us?

[Q] Think of who you know that is acting like Jonah

and ignoring God’s plans for his or her life. Without

mentioning names, what might you do to help that

person?

We all run from God at times, but Jonah shows us we can turn around and come back.

John Ortberg says, “What

do we do with the lessons

of Jonah? Perhaps we

should recognize our own

Jonah moments and act

according to what God is

up to in our lives.”


Jonah



by John Ortberg,

PreachingToday.com

Recognize Your Own Jonah Moments

Session 4

LEADER’S GUIDE

As a group, watch clip four. After the clip is finished, discuss the following questions together.





Session 4: Leader’s Guide | Recognize Your Own Jonah Moments | 21

[Q] Since God doesn’t usually give us direct orders as he did for Jonah, how do you recognize

what God wants you to do?

[Q] God doesn’t always “hurl us into the deep” because we are being disobedient, as John Ortberg

pointed out in telling us about his friend who had a massive stroke. What might be some other

reasons that God allows us to go through tough times?

Teaching Point One: If you are, or someone you love is, at the bottom, don’t despair.

Ortberg talks about the lawyer he knows: “This guy ended up finding Jesus in that AA group. He is

delivered. His life is saved. His marriage is saved. He goes down as far as he can go, and to his great

surprise, hitting bottom was the greatest thing that ever happened to him. Why? It was at the bottom

that he met God, and God was there doing something great.”

[Q] If you can, give an example of how hitting bottom was the best thing that ever happened to

you. Or share someone else’s story that demonstrates this principle.

[Q] Why do we often have to hit bottom before we’ll pay attention to God?

[Q] What about Christians who are trying to be obedient, but still hit bottom physically or

emotionally? Why does God allow that to happen?

Before giving his life fully to Christ, author Lewis Smedes worked for his uncle’s steel company. He

writes:

Gigantic cranes hoisted the steel beams from boat to dock by means of immense electro-

magnets, each of them about three feet thick, eight feet in diameter, and weighing about fifteen

tons. The magnets hung at the end of a two-inch cable which was, in turn, controlled by an

operator sitting in a cab above the docks. I was standing on the ground blankly watching the

theater of steel bustling around me when a shadow fell over me, which seemed odd, because

there were no trees or buildings that could cast a shadow.

I looked up and saw one of those immense magnets ten feet above me. [Dock workers] ducked in

and under these magnets all day long without giving them a thought, but I did not feel safe with

that monster hovering over me, so I took a long step away. At that instant, the magnet crashed

to earth and scraped the heel of my shoe as it landed. Rushing to investigate, the crane operator

discovered that the cable holding the tons of magnetized steel above my head had been frayed

down to a few threads of wire just before it crashed.





Later on, away from the docks, I wondered whether God himself could have pushed me out of

the way of that magnet just in time to save my neck and get my attention at the same time. It

seemed absurd to wonder whether the Maker of the Universe would go to such extreme lengths

to get the attention of a failed steel man. But then again, I had been less than a tenth of a second

away from being crushed to the thickness of a dime, and such things do not happen every day.1

[Q] What do you think? Do you think God pushed him out of the way to get his attention?

[Q] Can you think of a time that God did something unexpected and amazing in your life to get

your attention?

Teaching Point Two: Learn to see life from God’s perspective.

Read Jonah 3:10–4:11.

Jonah’s problem all along was that he saw things from his perspective, not God’s. He saw Nineveh as

the evil enemy that only deserved to be punished, and he couldn’t get past that perception.

We all want to be our own gods. Have you heard about Pocket God? It’s one of the top-selling video

game applications for Apple’s iPhone. Here’s the game description found on iTunes:

What kind of god would you be? Benevolent or vengeful? Play Pocket God and discover the

answer within yourself. On a remote island, you are the all-powerful god that rules over the

primitive islanders. You can bring new life, and then take it away just as quickly.

Seeing that game options include throwing islanders into volcanoes, using islanders as shark bait,

bowling for islanders with a large rock, or creating earthquakes to destroy the islanders’ villages,

designers seem to think players will only want to play the role of a vengeful god—which must mean

they think that’s the only kind of god players can ever imagine being real.2

[Q] Name some ways that you tend to want to be your own god.

[Q] What makes you recognize that God has more compassion on others than you do?

[Q] Can you give an example of when you saw something from your own perspective rather than

God’s and realized it afterwards? What was the outcome?

[Q] How can we gain more of God’s perspective on the events of our lives? Give an example.

1 Lewis Smedes, My God and I: A Spiritual Memoir (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003), pp. 47–48.2 From Brian Lowery on PreachingToday.com.





Apply Your Findings Ortberg concludes, “That’s the story of Jonah. That’s why what

looks like tragedy ends up as comedy. That’s your life, too—if you

want it to be. Jesus comes and says: If you’ll let me, I’ll meet you

at the Cross. I’ll meet you at the tomb. The third day is coming, if

you’ll meet me.”

Action Points: • On your own this week, read through the Book of

Jonah again. Jot down the things God is helping you to

understand as a result of this study.

• If you know someone who is running from God as Jonah

did, begin to pray for them and look for opportunities to

help them turn around and come back to God.



together

Optional Activity

d Purpose: To help us recognize Satan’s

lies and move toward God’s truth.

d Activity: Pass out markers to each

person in the group. Ask everyone to take off one of their shoes and to write Romans 16:20 on the bottom of it: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Explain that every time they wear those shoes, they should repeat God’s promise and literally walk the hell out of those lies that Satan is whispering to them.




P a r t O n e

Identify the Issue

Teaching Point One: If you are, or someone you love is, at the bottom, don’t despair.

Teaching Point Two: Learn to see life from God’s perspective.

P a r t T w o

Apply Your Findings Ortberg concludes, “That’s the story of Jonah. That’s why

what looks like tragedy ends up as comedy. That’s your

life, too—if you want it to be. Jesus comes and says: If

you’ll let me, I’ll meet you at the Cross. I’ll meet you at the

tomb. The third day is coming, if you’ll meet me.”

We all run from God at times, but Jonah shows us we can turn around and come back.

John Ortberg says, “What

do we do with the lessons

of Jonah? Perhaps we

should recognize our own

Jonah moments and act

according to what God is

up to in our lives.”


Jonah



by John Ortberg,

PreachingToday.com

Recognize Your Own Jonah Moments

Session 4






Session 4: Participant’s Guide | Recognize Your Own Jonah Moments | 25

Action Points: • On your own this week, read through the Book of Jonah again. Jot down the things God

is helping you to understand as a result of this study.

• If you know someone who is running from God as Jonah did, begin to pray for them and

look for opportunities to help them turn around and come back to God.




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