Stubborn to Submissive / Pastor Randy Goldenberg / FCF Church

The fish swallowing Jonah actually saved his life. He would have drowned in the stormy sea. The fish swallows him not to hurt him, but to rescue him, and it becomes his transportation. What do think about it? He gets the first submarine ride, and and it gets him back on the path of god's will. But personalize that because when it really happens to us, it's it's it's traumatizing. It's not what we want, but he will use it to transport us to get us moving back with his will because his will he knows is ultimately the good we really desire. We're just not yet convinced that it's the only way to get there. So let's go back to the text of Jonah. [01:12:00] (41 seconds)  #SavedByTheFish

Whenever we run away from god and his will, we run toward trouble for ourselves and others. This is an inevitability. It's like the law of gravity. Whenever we run toward god and his will, we run toward blessings for ourselves and others. Once again, it's just a spiritual truism. But then finally, and this is to encourage everybody because some of us are running away and some of us are running toward, whichever way we may run, God seeks to bring good to us and others even if it calls for transformational trauma. Jonah was running away from god and his will, but god loved him too much to let him go the direction he wanted to go, and he used trauma to course correct and ultimately to transform him. [01:26:35] (46 seconds)  #TraumaToTransformation

Could it be that God's judgment on human beings is far wider and more gentle and more merciful and forgiving than what we of church world tend to think? I mean, these are adults, and he's saying, man, they don't know what they're doing. They don't know right from wrong. Their moral compass is so skewed. They they they're just like children. They don't know what they're doing. This is god's view of them. It wasn't Jonah's view. [01:18:11] (27 seconds)  #GodsMercyIsWide

Please let this soak in. The god who loves us, who created us, who is with us, who is for us is telling us he will at times use trauma to transport and transform us. He he will do what is our highest good rather than what is immediately comfortable for us. He cares more about our character than our comfort. it's painful, but later on, okay, later on, we have to be patient, it produces a harvest of godliness. I become more and more like god and peace. The more I'm like god, the more peace I have inside, the more I have goodwill toward every human being, the more I have love, I have I have nothing but, the desire to serve people, I have more peace. [01:10:25] (42 seconds)  #CharacterOverComfort

My point is simple. If something is important enough, we will find the ability from God and with our own concentration to do it. When Jesus said, if you follow me, I'll show you how to fish for people. If it's important enough for me for you to reach people, that's what Jesus is talking about, we will think about how to do that, how to have conversations, how to introduce spiritual conversations. And like I said earlier, sometimes people that seem the furthest away like the Ninevites are actually the people the most wide open. [01:24:32] (34 seconds)  #ReachTheLost

He gives me an assignment, you an assignment, an opportunity, go to the people around you. I've pushed you out into society. There are people that desperately need to meet me through you. Will you just do it? Will you just be a link? How many of you ever told somebody about a a cool restaurant that you found? Can I see your hands? You just kinda spontaneously find something good you wanna share it. Has not Jesus done things good in our lives? Can we not share that as easily as we share about talking about a restaurant? It's it's that simple and yet it's very powerful. [01:25:27] (36 seconds)  #ShareWhatYouLove

we develop by doing. Okay? We we get this mixed up. Oh, I'm just gonna keep praying. God, change me. Give me your heart. Give me your mind. It's okay to pray those things, but remind yourself he's going to do that in a process. It is a very natural process because that's how authentic change comes. If I'm changing because of exterior pressure, I'm not really changing. It's it's only when I desire to change. This is who I wanna be. This is how I wanna live. Then we we have the the groundwork, the soil for authentic change. [00:48:16] (31 seconds)  #ChangeByDoing

It does this for those who have been what does it say? Trained by it. Ah, that's where we get into problem because some of us are stubborn like Jonah, and some of us are submissive, we learn quickly. We can learn the easy way or we can learn the hard way. Most of us, if you're like me, it's a mixture. We we learn both ways. But the father is extraordinarily patient. The whole story of Jonah, it is the most tender depiction of god's patience and gentleness and love for human beings. You'll see this as we go further in this. It it's remarkable of how tender hearted and patient god is with Jonah, with the people of Nineveh who are very violent, very dangerous, and difficult people. [01:11:08] (41 seconds)  #GodsPatientLove