God’s Unrelenting Grace Series3 C’s of Alignment with His GraceFebruary 18, 2018 Introduction: Don’t you just love it hearing the stories of God’s Word through the hearts and minds of children? Their faith is refreshing and inspiring to us. Jesus said that we need to have the heart & faith of children to enter into His Kingdom. Go with me to our text this morning as we study part 3 of God’s Unrelenting Grace based on the book of Jonah. Jonah 2:1-10 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 the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the deep, 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 mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.  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 forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD." 10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. NIV Pray with me this morning – Thank you for your Word and what you will say to all of us today who are here and those who will view this message by streaming. Thank you that you know where we are, and you are at work in and through every, every circumstance of our life. Often in times of crisis, we wonder where God is and might even feel as if he has abandoned us. The story of Jonah reveals Gods Unrelenting Grace. It serves to reminds us that through all our hardships even those of our own making He is at work. The story of Jonah of God’s unrelenting Grace tells me that … I.    God Works in my Confinement (Jonah 2:1,10) From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. NIV Too often, or perhaps I should say that the usual understanding of Jonah’s whale experience is all about God’s punishment. BUT that isn’t the full story. There are other facets of Jonah’s confinement that are powerfully important in our understanding of God’s grace. When I view all that transpires in my life through grace I see that God works in the confining circumstances of my life. Look at this with me, yes, the whale was God’s chastisement, BUT it was also … a.    A shelter/haven in the storm •    God would have you to see that Jonah’s confinement in the whale was God’s protection We often don’t see that our confining circumstances are God Shelter and provision to protect us from something greater. The story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!" One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation, the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is not good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail. About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the