Jonah - 7
Storm Damage
God has commissioned His servant Jonah to go to the very wicked and violent city of Nineveh and to preach against its sinfulness. However, Jonah has not obeyed the Lord, but has run away from God's will for him. He has boarded a ship bound for Tarshish in Spain which is in the opposite direction to Nineveh. Now God has sent a great storm that is threatening to overwhelm the ship and all in it. So we read in verse 5: "All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep."
Disobedience to God causes a lot of damage. People sin and they bring storms into their lives, into their homes, into their marriages and sometimes even into their churches. Like a violent wind storm, sin causes havoc and distress. Jonah's disobedience brought disaster on those around him and the effects of this great storm were three-fold:
First there was FEAR. These sailors must have experienced storms at sea many times, but this one was particularly violent. It was an unusually powerful storm. They sensed that this was something different and such was its effect that it caused them to cry out to their gods. They prayed for deliverance from the great peril in which they found themselves. So the second effect of the storm was that it caused these men to PRAY.
We discover three things from this prayer in the midst of the storm. First, in times of great danger people will often cry out to God for help. These sailors believed that there were gods who might help them in their distress, but their belief was misplaced. Their gods were false and powerless. This storm came from the Creator himself, the Living and True God whom they did not know. So many today cry out to God when they are in trouble, but sadly do not even consider Him when things are going well. So many pray not knowing the One to whom they address their prayers. These sailors were men living in great spiritual darkness. They were very superstitious and their praying was very misplaced.
Is that where you are today? You do not really know God and you only call on Him in times of trouble and when it is passed you forget God again. Perhaps God is speaking to you right now through some circumstance through which you are passing; some storm in your life that you cannot handle. The Lord wants you to turn to Him in repentance for your sin and placing your faith in Christ Who died for you. Then you will really know Him as a loving Heavenly Father Who cares for you amid the storms of life.
Secondly, this prayer in the midst of the storm reminds us just how weak and helpless and small and dependant we really are. Just when we think that we can cope with whatever comes our way, something happens to remind us that we are mortal and there are things that we can't control. It is at times like this that we realise that we need the help and protection and guidance of someone more powerful that we are. The Christian believer has such a one in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who has promised never to leave or forsake us. He is the one who by His Holy Spirit lives in us to empower us to overcome in the battles of life. To be a Christian does not mean that we will have no storms to face. It does mean that we have the never failing presence and help of God in the midst of the storm.
Thirdly, this prayer of the sailors shows us clearly that they had their own gods that were shaped and fashioned after their own ideas and imaginations and moral standards. We read in verse that, "Each cried out to his own god.” Centuries later, the apostle Paul, speaking to the men of Athens, said: "I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and observed your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.” That's Acts 17 verses 22 and 23. Down the centuries men have made their own gods to worship and put them in the place of the true God of Heaven; this is idolatry.
We have to ask the question, "Has idolatry ceased in this great scientific age in which we are living? ” We have to say, "No", for man is still the same. How different are we from these eighth century sailors? Man's nature has not changed for within us there is, as Augustine said, ‘A God-shaped void’ that needs someone or something to worship. Someone or something outside ourselves to whom we can turn in times of trial and trouble. Man's spiritual need has not changed, but it is the spiritual part of our lives that is so often neglected and God is forgotten or ignored until trouble comes.
So we have these two profound effects of the storm that has overtaken the ship in which Jonah is fleeing from God. First it produced FEAR and secondly PRAYER. Now we consider the third effect which was ACTION.
Verse 5 of Jonah chapter 1 says: "All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship."
They knew, as we do, that life is far more important than things. In order to save their lives they thought they had to abandon their precious cargo to the sea that threatened to engulf them. Sometimes the storms of life are the very things that God uses to show us the reality of our situation. But often we try to find our own way out and by our own actions seek a way of escape rather than seeking God's help. We do not look for the real cause of the storm.
The real danger for the sailors was not the cargo on board, but it was Jonah. We read in verse 5 again: "But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.” How could this man of God sleep at such a time? This was not a peaceful sleep, it was, I believe, a sleep brought on by deep distress. Was it easy and without cost for Jonah to run away from God? Did he realise now that this storm was all his fault? This was a very dangerous sleep. Sleep means that we are unaware and totally insensitive to what is going on around us. Terrible things are happening around Jonah, the cries of the heathen sailors, the desperate situation. God is speaking very powerfully, but his eyes are closed and he can't even hear the raging of the storm.
There is a sense spiritually in which we can be like that. Perhaps we are conscious of having disobeyed the Lord in some way. He is dealing with us in love, for the Lord disciplines those He loves. But we are not facing up to the situation. We are closing our minds to the storm through which the Lord is speaking to us, hoping it will go away. That is a very dangerous spiritual state in which to be because while we are in it we are unaware of the desperate plight of the lost and in no position to help them. Like Jonah, we have become ineffective and disobedient. We are spiritually asleep.
It was the old commentator Matthew Henry who wrote: "It is the policy of Satan, when by his temptations he draws men away from God and their duty, to rock them asleep in their own security that they may not be sensible to their misery and danger. It concerns us all to watch therefore."
We need to ask, "Am I represented in this verse? Am I conscious of my great need? Am I praying to my own god and just full of superstition? ” If you are trying to face the storms of life alone, or trusting in some false god to help you, then turn to the only one who can help you. Turn to the Lord Jesus Christ who can deliver you from your sin, and who will then be with you through whatever storms may come your way.
Are you a sleeping Christian, unaware of the cries of the lost and content with so little? Have you lost your enthusiasm for God's work and His word? Have you ceased to examine yourself to see if you are walking in obedience? Have you lost your joy in the Lord and the desire to meet with His people? Have you lost your love for fellow Christians? If this is so, may the Lord wake you up from this sleep of disobedience to live again for Him who loved you and gave Himself for you on the cross. Just as God eventually delivered Jonah from his waywardness, so He is willing and waiting to receive you back and restore you to the place where He can use you for His glory.