2.16.25 Huddle
Opening Discussion
- Where is a place you go to feel peaceful?
Jonah 1:1-6
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because their evil has come up before me.” 3 Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence.
4 But the Lord threw a great wind onto the sea, and such a great storm arose on the sea that the ship threatened to break apart. 5 The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his god. They threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel and had stretched out and fallen into a deep sleep.
6 The captain approached him and said, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up! Call to your god. Maybe this god will consider us, and we won’t perish.”
- Why did Jonah run away from the Lord?
- What are some ways people run away from the Lord?
- What is something that you feel the Lord is calling you to do that you are reluctant to do?
Extra Questions
- How did Jonah’s disobedience hurt others?
- Read Mark 4:35-41.
35 As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). 37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
- How are these stories similar? How are they different?
- Storms are going to happen in our lives regardless of being in the middle of God’s will or running from it. How will you handle the storms that come your way to make sure you are doing what God wants and not running away?
Read Jonah 1:17-2:10
1:17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
2:1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said:“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ 5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountainsI sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. 7 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. 9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” 10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
- How did Jonah respond to the Lord’s correction?
- When you are in a dark place in your own life, regardless of how you got there, how do you respond?
- What are some ways you can worship the Lord this week in the midst of your darkness and anxiety?
Read Jonah 4:1-9
1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die,and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
- Why did Jonah want to die?
- Throughout the book of Jonah it says several times that God provided different things for Jonah. How does God’s provision not always look the way we think it should?
- What are some ways depression can creep in when we disobey the Lord or disagree with Him?
Extra Questions
- What is something the Lord is leading you to do, but you have the wrong perspective?
- How would you know if you have the wrong perspective about a situation?
- Is there a group of people that you have written off because you disagree with their beliefs, ideas, race, etc?
- What can you do to gain proper perspective on that group of people?
Discipleship Questions
- What is one area of life you need the Lord to soften your heart in?
- What can you do to take a step closer to Jesus this week?
Memorize it!
Jonah 1:3a
Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence.
Prayer TACOS!
Thanksgiving- Thank the Lord for loving us even when we run away
Adoration- Worship the Lord for His radical mercy
Confess to a time when you ran from where the Lord was telling you to go
Others- Pray for an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with someone whom you typically disagree with
Self- Ask the Lord for clarity in areas of your life where you are frustrated and angry