 I want to talk to you if you feel like you've delayed or missed the call of God for your life. I want to talk to you about the Holy Spirit, the protector of the call. Every believer is called by God to do something. Now, some believers respond to the call of God in obedience and faithfully serve Him. We all, of course, make mistakes. And then there are other believers who, when God calls them, they go in the opposite direction. They delay and delay is disobedience. They try to look for excuses that they think will dismiss them from the call of God. Maybe it's insecurity, maybe it's sin, maybe it's something else. But for whatever reason, some believers just don't pursue the call of God for their lives. Now, maybe you're in that place and maybe there's something in you that says, I want to do something for God. I want to be used for His glory, but I feel like God has passed me by. I feel like I've made too many mistakes. Maybe you're fixated on a certain sin you committed and you think that that one sin just completely disqualifies you for good and you identify yourself by that mistake. Or perhaps you're filled with insecurity and you say, well, why doesn't God use somebody else? Why would He use somebody like me? I'm this, this, this, and this. And you list all the negative things that you can think of that you imagine disqualify you from the call of God. Or maybe you just don't want to give up comfort. But now you're realizing time is short, I need to do something. And perhaps you feel like you've ruined the call of God for your life never to be rediscovered. Or maybe you feel like you've delayed for so long that you've missed it. You know, there's a prophet in the Bible who when God called him ran in a completely different direction. Here's what the scripture says in Jonah chapter one. I'm going to read verses one through three to start. The Lord gave this message to Jonah, son of Amitya. Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are. But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. Now God called Jonah to Nineveh. He was called to go to this wicked city and to pronounce God's judgment to declare that if they didn't turn from their sins that God was going to judge them. Yet Jonah when he heard this instruction from the Lord didn't go where God told him to go. In fact he turned and went in the opposite direction not only running from the call but he also tried to run from the Lord. He didn't walk away from God's call. He ran away from God's call. He didn't hesitate with God's call. He resisted God's call. He purposefully, intentionally, maliciously went in the opposite direction and said, I don't want to do what God has called me to do. He fought the Lord. Jonah chapter 1 verse 4 says this. But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Everyone talks about Jonah and the whale. I want to talk to you about Jonah and the wind because before the whale came along God sent a wind. This was a wind that came from the presence of God. This wind is symbolic for the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Not only did the wind come and completely ruined Jonah's plans but the wind even threatened to break the ship apart. So God starts to disrupt Jonah in his disobedience and not only is he disrupting Jonah but he's threatening by the wind to break the ship apart. God will even destroy the means of our rebellion to get to us. He's trying to help the prophet. You see, when we're walking in disobedience God will do whatever it takes to shake things up. God will do whatever it takes to get our attention. It's when he just leaves you in your disobedience that you should be concerned. No, God sent a powerful wind and tried to destroy his means of rebellion. God sent a powerful wind to get his attention, to stop him in his tracks, to keep him from going the opposite way. The Holy Spirit, this powerful wind in our lives will keep us from veering off. You know ministers can go astray too. Not just we say everyday believers, but really we're all everyday believers and minister is an office that God gives to those who are faithful in certain areas but it doesn't matter. All of us can go astray. And when we go astray, God brings correction. But correction is not rejection. Correction is repositioning. Things around you may be falling apart, perhaps because God is trying to get your attention. Man of God, woman of God, have you gone in the opposite direction? And is God now sending a powerful wind? Is the Holy Spirit now destroying your means of rebellions? He will shake the systems in which you find security. He will remove the comforts of life. He will even sever certain relationships if that's what it takes to get your attention. Why? Because he loves you too much to leave you in your disobedience. Now we continue to read right around verse 15. Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea in the storm stop that once the sailors were awestruck by the Lord's great power and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. So God is using Jonah even in his disobedience. People are getting saved. You can't escape the call of God. You can't get God's hand off of your life. So these sailors realized eventually that Jonah was the cause of the problem. He told them, you know, the reason the storm is here is because God is punishing me. You throw me over, the storm will stop. So they did just that. They were awestruck by the power of God and then they said, we're going to serve you. That's the grace of God. That even in his disobedience he was being used by the Lord. God still used Jonah. Now Jonah took responsibility for the storm. He pointed to the fact that he was the one who was causing it but still there was some rebellion in him. So in verse 17 the Bible says, now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights. Jonah was given a second chance. That whale came to protect him and hold him. God will send a wind and a whale. God will shake things up and disrupt us in our disobedience and then he'll hold us in the place that keeps us secure and that's what he does. Doesn't always feel like that. You may feel trapped but God is holding you in his hand to protect you. Now watch this. This is so powerful. Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time. Wow. Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh and deliver the message I have given to you. What a powerful portion of Scripture. Now you may feel like you ruined everything and you may feel like it's too late for you to do anything for God. You may feel like you delayed and you've been passed over. Maybe you've seen your fellow brothers and sisters and Christ go on to do great things. What you've stood behind, I'm here to tell you that there's a second time that God will speak. The Scripture says then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time. What an amazing truth. That God would speak to him. That God would still use him as his prophet even after he disobeyed. Now why does he do this? I think sometimes, and Jonah was here obviously restored to his call. The people of Nineveh eventually repented when they heard Jonah's preaching. So he fulfilled the call of God. But I think sometimes we have backwards thinking concerning the call of God which is why we don't believe he wants to restore us. You see in certain cultures people imagine that ministry is a means of elevation. People imagine that when God calls them, it's to elevate them. But when God calls you, it's not about your call. When God anoints you, it's not about your anointing. When God gifts you, it's not about your gifts. When God calls you, anoints you and gifts you. It's always about fulfilling his will that souls might be saved. See we think it was about us. We think ministry was a reward. And to some degree it certainly is. But ministry is more of a responsibility than it is a reward. This is why God will restore you because it's not about you. It's about souls. It's about fulfilling his purpose. And once we shake ourselves from this notion that our calling is about us, that our anointing is about us, that our gifting is about us, that our ministry is about us. Once we're shaken from that unbiblical notion and then our eyes are open and we realize, of course God will give me another chance because there are still souls that need to be saved. Of course God will anoint me again. Of course God will speak to me a second time. Why? Because there are souls that need to be saved. Once you realize that it was never about you in the first place. That it was always about the rescue mission. Then you have the right perspective and you begin to see, of course the Holy Spirit will protect the call on my life. Now think about this. If God still used Jonah who was trying to avoid the call of God, then how much more will God still use you if you're attempting and you're trying and you want to obey but you're just struggling? Jonah said, I don't want to do it. I'm going the opposite direction. Maybe you say, God, I want to do it but I mess up sometimes. If God could use Jonah who absolutely intentionally was trying to avoid the call, then surely he can use you. Someone who is pursuing the call but perhaps failing now and then. This is not to say that we don't need to live holy. Holiness matters. I'm simply saying that God can give you another chance. God can restore what you think has been lost and the Holy Spirit really can do more in a prayer filled week than we can in a prayerless decade. The Holy Spirit can make up for lost time. He's the protector of the call. God has a powerful wind guiding you and keeping you on track and when you try to go the other way, then the Holy Ghost will come and destroy the means of your rebellion. The Holy Spirit is the protector of your call. Get up, get up, repent, turn from that thing, set aside the insecurity, set aside the doubt, set aside the laziness, set aside the guilt and the shame. Rise and hear the Holy Spirit the second time or the third or the fourth or the fifth or the thousand. What I love about the Lord is that He holds to His own standards. So if God tells you to forgive again and again and again and again, surely He will forgive again and again and again. First John 1.9 says, but if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. He's just in that He has the right to do it because of what Jesus did on the cross and He's faithful in that He does it again and again. Should we go on sinning then? Of course not. For those of you who feel like you've completely missed it, you feel like you've ruined it all, remember Jonah and remember that wind, the Holy Spirit who guides our lives, who protects the call of God. Father, liberate them from shame. Liberate them from the past. I rebuke every deceptive thought and we cast it down in the mighty name of Jesus. And Father, I pray that you would speak another time. Let them rise, Lord, and fulfill that which you've given them to fulfill. We pray it be so in the mighty name of Jesus. I want you to say it because you believe it. Amen. For this is how God loved the world. He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. You know, one of the ways that we demonstrate our love is through our giving. For God so loved the world that He gave. Why did God send His Son? Well, Jesus tells us that He came into the world to seek and to save the lost. That's why we do what we do. That's why we give. That's why we continue to create videos. That's why we continue to do live streams. We continue to do events around the world. We continue to offer the Holy Spirit School online and all of that is offered for free. Why do we give? Because we love and we demonstrate our love through our giving. We want to see souls saved. And I know that desire to see the lost saved, to see a generation turn toward the cross. That desire is in you to see that. You're generous. You're loving. You're giving. And you have a passion for souls. So join with us. Join with us in our efforts. Join hands with us and join hands with the thousands around the world who support this ministry. All for one cause. Souls that souls might be saved. Demonstrate your love for the Lord. Demonstrate your love for souls. Demonstrate your love for the Gospel by giving. We give because we love. So stand with us. If you'll stand with us, go to davidhernanisministries.com slash donate. You can give a one-time gift you can become a monthly ministry supporter. Give a one-time gift today or become a partner today. And when you do, you'll know that you're supporting something that is changing lives, not just lives, but eternities. So whether you give a one-time gift or you become a monthly supporter, all of it goes to continue with the cause. All of it goes to help this ministry keep going and growing strong. One more time, davidhernanisministries.com slash donate. You can do a one-time gift or a monthly gift from anywhere in the world. Support the Gospel. Join with us. And let's win people to Jesus. Well, that's it. And until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God. I'll see you in the next video.