The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked Jonah, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” He replied, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” – Jonah 1:11-12
It is one thing to admit that our failure to live rightly with God has caused enormous suffering for others; yet it is quite another to want to change and repent.
Most of us are familiar with the story of Jonah the prophet. God gave him a command to go preach a message of dire warning to the evil people of Nineveh, people who had persecuted his own ancestors for centuries. So Jonah had his reasons for wanting no part of that mission. What God was asking of Jonah would be like asking a 1940’s Jewish resident living in New York to travel to Berlin to offer peace and forgiveness to the Nazis.
Instead of obeying God, Jonah fled. And in hardly no time at all, the serious consequences of his disobedience would not just affect him, but likewise become a heavy burden shouldered by all those around him.
And yet when I get to this particular section of the story, I’m always left with the question of why.
Jonah knew that God was trying to get his attention with the storm. Jonah knew that he was the reason why the sailors were desperately fighting to save not only themselves, but him and the rest of the passengers on board. And Jonah knew that God would immediately calm the storm if he’d only tell the sailors, “Turn this boat around and take me straight back to Joppa.” But obviously that’s not what would happen.
Jonah was prepared to die rather than to change his attitude and obey God. And were it not for the mercy of the same God who loved the people of Nineveh, Jonah would’ve surely drowned that day in the depths of the sea.
When I read the story of Jonah and his initial unwillingness, it takes me back to my days while I too was in the middle of my storm of active alcoholism. My drinking caused a lot of issues for those who truly cared about me. And I could hear God telling me, “You don’t have to keep doing this to yourself and them. There’s a different way, a better way. And I’ll even help you.” But like Jonah, I wanted no part of that mission. I was prepared to die rather than change.
Until, that is, the glorious day of freedom appeared to me a few years later. And the irony is that it ended up being the worst day of my life, too. The whale God sent me came through the death of a man I loved more than life – my father.
It took his death to bring me back to life.
It’s really hard to appreciate a storm while we’re in the middle of it. But every storm serves God’s wonderful purpose. He uses storms to correct the path we’re on; He uses storms to discipline us; He uses storms to mature our faith; and He uses storms to reveal His sovereign nature to us.
So if you find yourself in a storm today, don’t run. Just pray and ask God what it is He’s trying to teach you.
The storm won’t last forever.
Former Blackout Artist 