But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
I do not often quote Confucius’ parables, but you may have heard The Old Man and his Horse, about a man who sees good in the bad and bad in the good. The moral is to take life as it comes. The Bible also has examples of how we should view trials in our lives. The Prodigal Son returned to his father only after the famine. Here, calamity has struck the ship with Jonah aboard. How could this terrible thing happen? The Bible answers. The LORD hurled the storm at the ship for the purpose of bringing Jonah back to himself.
Is he doing this in your life right now? You may be in a great trial and blaming Satan, who can do nothing apart from the permissive will of Almighty God. Let us instead look at our trials the way Jonah and the Prodigal Son did, as the signal to do an about face and return to that which we are running from. Note the sailors’ response. They prayed to their various gods. Jonah? He slept through it, exhausted by his flight. Rebellion against God is a lot of work. It is also fruitless. He will not be mocked nor rejected if he has chosen you. You can run but the Lord hurls storms…
And he calms them.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church