Avoiding & Accoplishing the Mission of God- Keith Dollar

The book of Jonah is a comical story of a reluctant prophet who tried to avoid God and His missional assignment. In God's mercy He overcame the resistance of the prophet Jonah, in order to display His mercy not only to Nineveh but also to Jonah. God is a missional God who calls His people to join Him in accomplishing His global mission. God's mission overflows from His character, namely that he is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. When one fails to align with mission of God it reveals a disconnect with the heart and character of God. That's was the case with Jonah. The thing that should have fueled Jonah mission, the mercy of God for sinners, was the reason He avoided the mission. Jonah knew that God would grant mercy to anybody who turns to Him in repentance. God worked with the brokenness and failures of this reluctant prophet. So we can be encouraged that God too will work through us and regardless of our weakness and failures when we surrender to Him. God used a sinful man and a simple message to turn an entire city himself, so that He may have mercy on them. Imagine what God can and will do through you if you listen and obey His voice regarding the mission He is calling you to participate in!