It Ain’t About Me!
Review:
Jonah Chapter 1
v Jonah trying to run from God
v Jonah going down, down, down
Jonah Chapter 2
v Jonah hits rock bottom
v He turned towards God and found God waiting to lift him back up
Jonah Chapter 3
v Jonah was given a second chance to be faithful to God
v Jonah brought God’s Message to Nineveh for 40 Days and the people repented
v God poured out His Grace upon Nineveh, not His wrath and 120,000 people were saved
Jonah Chapter 4 (Today’s message)
Jonah had had a tough couple of months! He had ran from God, lived in a fish for 3 days, been unceremoniously spit out onto the beach, had to walk to Nineveh (probably over 100 miles) and had preached the Word of God all across that great city for 40 days. Jonah was:
v Worn Out – He was physically exhausted
v Burned Out – He was mentally exhausted
These two conditions worked together to magnify Jonah’s pride and arrogance and fueled an intense anger and depression.
God had saved and restored Jonah and the city of Nineveh. Jonah had experienced and witnessed the Creator do great and mighty things. Yet, here he sat in the depths of depression.
Jonah had forgot one key element God had taught him in the belly of the fish – IT AIN’T ABOUT ME! Jonah’s purpose was to be found in God, not Jonah!
Jonah had forgotten that He was:
(from 40 Days of purpose by Rick Warren)
When we become worn out and/or burned out it is very easy to find our self in the same place as Jonah.
v Depressed
v Angry
v Ready to give up
This occurs when we begin to think that it’s all about us; what we want, what we think and how we think it should be done.
Keys to preventing the “It’s all about me” syndrome
1. Get alone with God
2. Prayer. Talk to God about what is going on
We need to understand that our life is a privilege, not a right!
God Almighty
created us for His purposes and pleasure.
It Ain’t About Me!