1. God Sends Unwanted Grace. (Jonah 1:1-2)

Jonah 1:1-2 ~ the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

A. Unwanted Grace Comes as a Privilege

The word of the Lord was.. Jonah didn’t ask for it.. He didn’t plan for it.. He did nothing to get it.. He did not earn it and it was just there – it just showed up..

We don’t know how he got it.. We don’t know if he heard it.. Or sensed it.. Or felt it.. Or saw it.. Or he just received it..

Now remember this is the word of the LORD..

Every time we see LORD un upper case letters we must remember it means Yahweh, God’s formal name, His covenant making and covenant keeping name..

Yahweh is God’s initiating name – the name used to speak of His initiative to enter our lives.. In the Garden of Eden, with the call of Abraham, the commissioning of Moses – all the way throughout the Old Testament Yahweh initiates and this initiation is always an act of grace, even when it is not welcome in the lives of those with whom He initiates.

Yahweh is also God’s covenant making name, His commitment making, legal contract signing name, and everything He does grows out of the covenant He has made.

So unwanted grace comes from the covenant keeping god who is constantly making grace initiatives in our lives..