You may not hear God’s voice like Jonah did, but do you believe that the Bible is God’s very Word? God has revealed Himself in the Bible, so what will you do? How will you respond?
How do you respond to wickedness? Are you more like Abraham or like Jonah? Do you intercede for people trapped in sin and evil, or are you more likely to withhold God’s message of forgiveness from them?
Have you ever tried to run from the Lord? What comfort is there in knowing that hiding from Him is impossible.
Have you ever found yourself in a similar place as Jonah, “asleep” and calloused to the needs of the people around you? If you’re in such a place now, will you confess your sin to the Lord?
Have you seen God “hit straight with a crooked stick”? When you share the gospel, is your focus more on your presentation or on God’s power to save sinners?
Take some time today to imagine yourself as both Jonah and the sailors. How would you respond to the sailors’ question if you were Jonah? And how would you respond to Jonah if you were the sailors?
Is your fear of the Lord more like Jonah’s fear or the sailors’ fear? If it’s more like Jonah’s, what causes the disconnect between what you believe and how you live?
Have you repented and trusted in Jesus? If not, what is keeping you from believing in Him?
Have you gotten yourself into a desperate situation like Jonah did? If so, have you cried out to the Lord to have mercy on you and to bring your “life up from the pit”? If not, pray to Him now!
In times of trouble, where do you turn? On what are you most tempted to rely?
How did God call you to repentance? Do you share the gospel with the confidence that God really does save sinners?
Are there times when you’ve thrown yourself on God’s mercy, unsure of how He would respond? How did He respond?
Have you experienced God’s great compassion in your life? How did you respond to His grace and forgiveness?
What about you? Is your theology only skin deep? Or do you rejoice when God shows His kindness to all people, regardless of their ethnicity, nationality, social status, and the like?
Why do you think Jonah was so concerned about his own comfort? What is God trying to teach Jonah—and us?
Can you relate to Jonah? How would you respond to the Lord’s final question?
How do you feel about Nahum’s depiction of God’s awesome power and fierce anger? Does this passage frighten you or give you hope in God’s justice?
Have you struggled to understand how a good God could judge sin? Consider the reverse: Would a good God allow evil free reign?
How do you view God’s judgment? How would you respond to someone who said that God cannot be loving because He promises to judge evil?
How does God’s justice against evil make you feel? What about His promise to restore His people?
How does God’s sovereign power bring you comfort? How should we respond to a God so powerful and majestic?
Have you trusted in Christ as Savior? If not, will you repent of your sin and turn to Him today?
Search your heart today. Have you trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sin? What is stopping you?
Do you bring your struggles to the Lord like Habakkuk does? If not, to whom do you turn in times of despair, and why?
Do you find comfort in God’s sovereignty over all people—including evil nations like Babylon? How would you respond if you were in Habakkuk’s shoes?
Has God ever answered your prayer in a way that just didn’t seem right? How did you respond to Him?
Do you trust what God has said, no matter what? What do you think it means for a righteous person to live by their faithfulness?
Consider each of these woes. Can you think of modern examples of these? Finally, what does it look like for you to be silent before the Lord?
Do you often consider how the Lord has worked in the past? Do you cry out to see His work again?
How does this passage make you feel about the God you worship? Do you trust that He is good and faithful, even if terrifyingly powerful?
Will you trust in the Lord as Habakkuk did? Will God be your strength, no matter the trials and travails you face in this life?