Running To Win 15 Minute Version

Dave McAllister: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Sometimes circumstances overwhelm us, forcing us to turn to God for a way out. Jonah was certainly overwhelmed in the belly of a great fish. For Jonah, that experience truly marked his death to self-reliance.

From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Today, Erwin Lutzer continues his series on Brokenness: How God Gets Us to Say Yes, studies in the Book of Jonah. We've been watching God control Jonah's circumstances and how He makes sure His purposes are accomplished in our lives as well.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: We are desperate. And what God is trying to do is to say, "Don't you see your need?" And the reason that God motivates us to pray, He does it through giving us circumstances that lead us to utter desperation. And then we finally cry out to God and say, "God, it's over. I lay down the weapons of a rebel. I am desperate. Help me!"

And the Bible says that if you call unto Me in the day of trouble, I will answer thee. I have a little booklet in my study, I think it's entitled "Crying Out to God," and it makes this interesting point: that in the Old Testament, at least, there is a distinction between just praying and crying out. For example, in the Psalms, David will say something like this: "I pray to the Lord, and I cried out to Him."

Now we know that we don't have to cry out because God knows our thoughts, so we can pray silently. But there's something in Scripture about lifting up our voice in desperation that attracts the attention of God. And over and over again in the Scripture, it says, "I cried out to You, and You inclined Your ear. You inclined Your ear to me, and You answered me."

And there are times when we should cry out. You might not want to do it in your apartment if you have thin walls, but maybe you can go somewhere at times and just cry out to God. He loves to hear the voice of His children. And desperate people pray. I'm interested as I look at the text that Jonah doesn't even bargain with God. People who are really, really desperate don't bargain. He doesn't say, "God, get me out of here and I'll be going to Nineveh in a heartbeat. Just get me out of here."

I don't see that in the text. What he's doing is he's thanking God for the deliverance that was wrought through the fish, and he's recognizing that, and he's giving God praise, and his future is entirely in God's hands. Isn't it interesting that Jesus in the New Testament used this? One day some people came to Jesus and they said, "Why don't you give us a sign that we might believe You?"

Jesus had given them many signs, many miracles. But he said, "No longer shall a sign be given unto you, but as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." And just as God had Jonah expelled from his confinement, in the very same way, on resurrection morning, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, giving an evidence that he was indeed the Son of God—which is an incidental proof also that Jesus believed this story.

He believed this story. And I don't know about you, but I'm going to believe anything that Jesus believed. If he believes it, I'm going to believe it too. So, what does God have to do in your life before you chafe and fight and manipulate and plan for your will to be accomplished?

I've seen people dragged from one thorn patch to another, to another, to another, to another, and they will not bow and say, "God, help me, do with me as seems good in Your sight," because we as humans are so stubborn. Look at what God did to Jonah. Next time, we'll find out that he still had not totally come around. He was a reluctant, angry preacher. He went, but just barely.

I love to tell the story—oh, by the way, before I do, I want to quote the words of Martin Luther. There was wisdom when he said, "We must descend into hell before we can ascend into heaven." What he meant was, if you don't see your need, you're not going to call up to God for help. Some people have to descend into the depths of Sheol, the pit; then they say, "Now God, where are You? You've got my attention." Don't let it go that far. Don't let it go that far.

I tell the story that you've heard me tell before, perhaps several years ago, about a man who called a pastor on the phone, a friend of mine, and asked him to come over to his office. And the man was just wailing and weeping and just crying out, but in the midst of tears so that he could not be understood. And the pastor went over there thinking that the man's wife had died or maybe a child had been in an accident and was killed.

And all that he could do there is kind of look at the man, try to figure out what in the world was happening because the guy was just wailing, just wailing and crying out to God. So, when he got him settled down, he said, "You know, what is the problem?" The man said, "God just showed me my heart. And when I saw my heart, it was as if I was looking into hell."

What happened was this: he was a businessman, and he had been cheating on expense forms. You know, you go into a hotel and you write down certain expenses that are not valid, and then somehow—I don't know how—but then you get the kickback or the money. Actually, I think in the business world, it's very, very common practice. I mean, virtually everybody does it. Is it really that big a deal?

I mean, what's with it? A little bit of cheating here, a little bit of cheating there. A fellow has to make it. The company's got lots of money. Furthermore, they owe me a lot more than they're paying me anyway. So, it's no big deal until you see God. And suddenly, when God points it out to you, it is then that you become desperate. It is then that you call out.

It is then that you say, "Oh God, whatever it takes, no matter what it's going to cost me, there's only one thing that matters now, and that is to be fully right with You, fully, fully in harmony with You and with a clear conscience." And so we cry up to God and we say, "Oh God, forgive me, deliver me." And we cry up, and God finally says, "I'm so thankful that at last, after years of this and this and this, I have your attention."

Samuel Johnson says that nothing focuses the mind like the knowledge that one is to be hanged. Nothing focuses the mind like the knowledge that one has nowhere to go, no future, no hope, nothing except you and God. That's what Jonah learned in the belly of a sea monster. Where does God have to take you and me before we learn the same thing? Let's pray.

As we pray together today, there are two categories of people, two major categories of people who have been listening to this message. One is those of you who have never trusted Christ as your Savior. I mentioned earlier that you have to dial the 800 number: J-E-S-U-S. Jesus died for sinners, and he rose again, as I explained a few moments ago.

And if you do not know Christ as Savior, even where you are, you can cry up to him in your heart. It would be better for you to use your voice, but in this general congregation, you can cry up to him in your heart and say, "Jesus, save me." We often have people who come up later and say, "You know, I received Christ a week ago or two weeks ago, during the closing prayer, I accepted him."

Then there's another category, and that is you are a believer and you know that your name is written in heaven, but you also know that you are just struggling with God. It's not against circumstances. You think it's circumstances, but it's God trying to bring you to the end so that your will would be yielded to him. And so what about you?

Are you willing to finally say, "Okay God, I am willing to be broken, willing to say, Lord Jesus, glorify Yourself in me through circumstances, through heartaches, through events that I cannot control? I live only for Your glory and lay it all down at His feet."

Father, would You make this a transforming moment for people? If we could see hearts, we'd see people struggling with anxieties and sinful relationships and dishonesty. We'd just see a picture, Father, that You see clearly. And it's a picture that You want to change. And so grant a spirit of yieldedness and repentance and faith to come to Your people.

Father, even as we want to thank You for what You did to get Jonah's attention, we also want to thank You for what You've done to get our attention. We pray, Father, that You might not have to do too much, that we will say, "Yes Lord, Your servant hears." Grant that, oh God, we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.

Dave McAllister: Well my friend, I hope that all of us are able to pray, "Lord, Thy will be done, Thy servant hears." I want you to visualize a girl who was conceived out of wedlock, taken to an orphanage, experiencing abuse in various foster homes, but hearing words from students who had come to the orphanage say this: "No matter what else you remember about our being here, God loves you."

And that angry little girl sitting there bowed her head and said, "God, if You love me, You've got all of me." It's a story of redemption, it's a story of hope, and I want you to have a copy of the book. It's entitled "Dory: The Girl Nobody Loved." Years ago, my wife Rebecca and I met Dory and her husband. When I heard her story, I insisted that it be written down and I have to say this: it is a life-transforming book.

Many people came up when Dory would give her story and give her a hug and tell her what a great impact she had on their lives. For a gift of any amount, we're making this book available for you. If you think you don't need it, I can assure you of this: you know somebody who desperately needs it and will be blessed by it. I hope you take advantage of this offer because we are here to help you run the race of life all the way to the finish line.

Dory: The Girl Nobody Loved. It's a heart-wrenching story of how God took a child abandoned in an orphanage and gave her a whole new life. Written by Pastor Lutzer, this book will demonstrate that there is hope even when no hope is visible. "Dory: The Girl Nobody Loved" will be sent to you as our gift when you give a gift of any amount to support Running to Win.

Call us at 1-800-215-5001. That's 1-800-215-5001. Online, go to offerrtw.com. That's offerrtw.com. Or write to Running to Win, Moody Church, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is a ministry of the Moody Church.