Jonah 1:2-3 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.  But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.  The Lord had a specific duty and direction in mind for Jonah.  He was to go to Nineveh and preach against their sinful ways.  Jonah chose to go the opposite direction!  Wrong choice!  He thought he could run from the presence of the Lord.  If you know your Bible  then you know that’s impossible.   God is omniscient,  He knows everything!  God is omnipotent,  He is all powerful.
God is omnipresent,  He is everywhere!   Jonah learned these truths the hard way!  God knew that Jonah was asleep in the side of the ship.  He prepared the storm to wake him up, and the whale to swallow him up!  Why?  Because God loved Jonah, and God wanted to show mercy to the sinful people in Nineveh.  Why does our Lord want us to go and share the gospel with others?  Because He still loves sinners!  Contrast Phillip in Acts chapter 8.  God said arise and go and Phillip arose and went!  Shortly afterwards Phillip was introducing a Eunich to the Lord Jesus.   God has a plan, a direction for your life and mine, when God says GO, it is foolishness on our part to say NO.  There are people all around us that need the Lord.   Will we sleep in the ship, or will we arise and go with the greatest message this world will ever hear?   The message of mercy and forgiveness through the sacrifice of God’s Son.  Nineveh repented.   Jonah wasn’t thrilled,  but God was.  Nothing thrills me more than to go, that others may repent and believe on the Lord Jesus.  Amen.  Pastor