If God has called you to do something and you\u2019ve found yourself hesitating or even running like Jonah did, He not only wants to do something through you, he wants to do something in you. He wants to grow your faith. He wants to help you come to a greater understanding of his goodness and his great love for you. Maybe he\u2019s trying to help you understand in a deeper way just how much you need him. Whatever it is, God is not giving up on you.
\nIt really shouldn\u2019t surprise us that God gave Jonah a second chance. It\u2019s just part of his nature. He longs to forgive. He seeks to redeem and reconcile. It shouldn\u2019t have surprised Jonah, either. Jonah knew how many second chances God had given the nation of Israel. Time after time we see God\u2019s people rebel and worship idols. Disaster comes upon them and they cry out to God. God comes in and rescues them. Shortly after they start to drift away again. Disaster overtakes them, they cry out, God steps in. It\u2019s like a bad record that just keeps repeating.
\nGod\u2019s Message is Simple and Powerful
\nJonah 3:4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: \u201cForty Days from now Nineveh will be destroyed.\n
That\u2019s the message? All of this running away was over that? Seems like a whole lot of drama over a simple message. These words probably weren\u2019t the only words Jonah spoke, but they were the central theme of the message. It wasn\u2019t an eloquent message filled with persuasive words. Jonah simply passed on the very words God had directed him to deliver. The words of God are powerful! With his words, God spoke the universe into existence. The words of God have all the power they need.
\nNotice, too, that this was a message of judgment and destruction. This wasn\u2019t a message about how much God loved the city of Nineveh. Yes, God is a God of love. Yes, he\u2019s compassionate and merciful. Yes, his grace is amazing! But God is also just. He is holy. He hates sin and one day all of those who die without putting their faith in Jesus are going to face his judgment. And if we love those people, we need to let them know that.
\n1 Corinthians 1:18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.\n
The apostle Paul knew the power of God\u2019s simple message. He said the cross is foolish to those headed for destruction, but for we who are being saved it is the very power of God. He worked to keep his message simple and centered around Jesus and the cross.
\nJonah was emboldened by this simple yet powerful message. He shouted it to the crowds. He wasn\u2019t hesitant this time around. He didn\u2019t walk around whispering this message in the shadows or speak it in code. He spoke exactly what God had told him to speak and he made the most of his second chance. As unlikely is it may have seemed, the people of Nineveh responded.
\nThe Assyrians were the last people you would expect to repent. They were known for their brutality and violence. In a time where torture was commonplace, the Assyrians turned it up a notch. They would have mass executions by impalement. They were known to skin conquered people alive and then hang their skins up on the city wall as a reminder to anyone who might want to disobey. But in spite of all this, they repented at the preaching of Jonah. God\u2019s Word penetrated their heart.
\nJonah 3:5 (NLT) The people of Nineveh believed God\u2019s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.\n