FOCUS TEXT: Jonah 1:4-6

This past Sunday, we continued our series, “Relentless Grace: Jonah’s Story and God’s Mercy.” In Jonah 1:1-3, Jonah, a prophet of God, received a clear and challenging call to go to Nineveh—a city known for its wickedness. Instead of obeying, Jonah fled toward Tarshish, driven by deep resistance to God’s mission and hatred for the Assyrian people. Jonah’s story reminds us that God’s call often disrupts our comfort and exposes our hearts.

This week, we looked at Jonah 1:4-6, where God sends a storm in response to Jonah’s disobedience. This storm was a deliberate act of God’s relentless grace, designed to awaken Jonah to His presence and purposes. Through these verses, we see how God uses storms in our lives to shake us out of complacency, reveal our spiritual condition, and call us back to His mission.

God’s Grace Pursues Us in Our Rebellion (Jonah 1:4). In his flight from God, Jonah encountered a storm, a powerful expression of God’s severe mercy. This storm wasn’t random; it was designed to confront Jonah and bring him back to God’s presence and purposes. Similarly, God may use difficult circumstances in our lives to pursue us. He does this, not because He is angry, but because He loves us and wants us to know the blessing of walking and working with him.

God’s Grace Exposes Our Spiritual Condition (Jonah 1:5). While the pagan sailors were terrified, Jonah was asleep, disconnected from the reality around him. This physical sleep mirrored his spiritual numbness. This verse challenges us to examine whether we are awake and responsive to God’s voice and call or complacent and indifferent.

God’s Grace Calls Us to Face Reality & Change Direction (Jonah 1:6). The pagan captain rebuked Jonah, urging him to pray for deliverance—a wake-up call for Jonah and a reminder that God’s grace often comes through unexpected channels. The storms in our lives are opportunities to turn back to God, seek His guidance, and realign with His purposes.

Jonah’s story is more than just an ancient tale—it’s a reflection of our struggles with obedience and our tendency to run from God’s calling to “seek and save the lost.” But just as God pursued Jonah, He pursues us, sending storms to wake us up and call us back to His presence, mission and purposes. How will we respond? Will we allow God’s relentless grace to transform our lives and our mission?

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

• What storms in your life might God be using to wake you up to His presence and purposes?

• How can you re-engage with God’s mission, especially in areas where you’ve been resistant or complacent?

• Are you spiritually awake, or have you been lulled into indifference? What is your next move?

PRAYER RESPONSE: “Father, thank You for Your relentless grace. Pursue us even when we run from You. Help us wake up to Your presence, purposes, and love. Give us courage to step into the mission You’ve given us, even when it’s uncomfortable. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

MEMORY VERSE: Jonah 1:6 – “So the captain came and said to him, ‘What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god!’”