This sermon emphasizes the importance of obedience to God's calling in our lives, using the story of Jonah as an example of disobedience and the consequences that follow. It highlights how we may try to escape or rationalize away from God's direction, but ultimately, His will prevails. The narrative of Jonah's journey, from disobedience to repentance, serves as a powerful lesson on the need to surrender to God's plans, even in the face of great challenges and discomfort.

In the Bible, there is a story about one servant of the Lord who was totally disobedient to God's calling in his life. The Lord has called all his servants to have a very clear direction for their lives. They are not supposed to go left and right and wander in their lives. There was one prophet in the Old Testament, because prophets, they can also go wrong. This guy, he got the direction from the Lord to go to the city, the great city of Nineveh, and share the message, and he didn't want to do that. So he escaped to another direction. And so this prophet of the Lord, he started to have his own consideration whether this calling was valid in his life. And it looks like for many servants of the Lord, they have fixed their lives for many years to come. So if next year, the time when they have planned for holiday, Lord want them to do something, say, Oh no Lord, I'm on holiday next year this time. And this prophet of the Lord, he wanted to get some confirmation. So he was saying to himself, if somebody will donate me money enough, and I'm able to buy a boat ticket to Spain, that is the will of the Lord. And he was able to get the money, and was able to find a place in the boat, but that wasn't what the Lord wanted to happen. So he brought great danger to anyone who was with him on that boat. Because if you are disobedient, and you head to a wrong direction, God will raise up the submarine forces of the sea, and they will turn you around. And the Lord said to the wind, wake up the sea and the waves, and let us teach a lesson to my servant. And this prophet was so sure about his destination, he was solid sleeping. When all the boatmen were throwing everything overboard in order to be saved, and he was just sleeping. And finally the captain discovered that one person on the boat was not worried at all, he is sleeping. So he wake him up and say, what in the world have you done? And he said, yes, this is because of my stubbornness. But now lift me up and throw me into the sea. Throw me into the sea and the waves will stop. I tell you, if God calls you, you will not die even if you are thrown into the sea. You are not going to succeed. He was so firm, Jonah, he said, I would rather die than obey the Lord. And God had created a special fish. For years it had been waiting in that location. And he was so hungry, and then the Spirit of God said to that fish, now it's time for you to eat something. Go up to the surface and open your mouth. And when he was hungry, suddenly a person fell into his mouth. A person fell into his mouth. He was covered with hair, and he couldn't eat it. And when the hungry fish received Jonah, he wasn't happy because he recognized, this is not the food I can really take care of. God commanded the fish, now you have to go in another direction. Bring it to me at the fastest speed. And when Jonah was in the fish's stomach, he was struggling and in pain. He did not obey God, but God gave him a lesson. He was three days in the acid of the big fish. He was like in the washing machine. Before he was willing to repent. You know all this story, right? At the end of the third day, Jonah was finally willing. Lord, if you only rescue me from my darkness, I will become the most obedient servant of yours. And then the Lord gave the command to the fish, now you can vomit him out. You've been suffering already three days with this guy moving inside you. At that time, Jonah had been in the fish's stomach for three days. He was finally able to see the truth. After a long night of darkness, he was finally able to see the truth. Jonah was thinking because he thought God is merciful, God is good and graceful. So when he was washing away the acid from his face, he thought, God has allowed the fish to vomit me to the nice beaches of Spain. He thought he was at peace because he bought a boat ticket. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the sea was still in his way. The fish knew God's heart. It knew the direction. Everyone, if God's call to you is clear, you will be able to achieve half of your success, but you will lose God's presence and struggle in the darkness. There are so many pastors that they do everything else except put their boats to that direction that the Lord has for their lives. But praise the Lord. Even when He punishes us and gives us some hit in the button, He is telling us, He still gives us a possibility to repair testimonies.