When God SAW, Jonah RESPONDED and RELENTED – never underestimate the power of humility and repentance – you are never too far gone – God is the God of 2nd, 3rd, 4th chances- the worst of the worst was a candidate for the grace of God – SO UNLIKELY, UNEXPECTED, and as we will see from Jonah next week, UNWANTED.

1. God is in the business of second chances. You are Nineveh in this story. You stood guilty, deserving judgment because of your willful disobedience. Enter Jesus. The good news is that the cross has the final word in your life –

2. Embrace your hāpak (a) moment. While you deserve justice and judgment for your decisions, you have the choice: be overturned or overthrown – by God’s grace, YOU GET TO CHOOSE.

3. REPENTANCE brings God’s RELENT. Remember 2 Chronicles 7:14 – If/then…

4. Don’t be someone’s NO for them. The very person you think is outside the candidacy for God’s grace is the one God desperately wants to reach. Are you willing to enter the fray, or are you going to grab a boat going in the other direction?

(@) hāpak:  translated “overturned” – this is significant, because just like in our language, words can have multiple meanings- hāpak can mean overthrow, as in destroy, or overturn, as in change or turn back – so, while Jonah’s message was 7 words, these words told a greater story: “You will be destroyed OR you will be changed. The choice is yours”- Interesting that Jonah has just gone through his own hāpak moment, and we know he was favoring one over the other – what about you? At a crossroads? Trying to decide whether to repent, or think in a new way about your sin, or be overthrown?