Most Christian children grow up hearing the tale of Jonah being swallowed by the whale because of his disobedience to God. It's an exciting story that warns of doing our will instead of God's. But, many adults don't think of it beyond that.
The story begins with Jonah getting into a ship heading for another place. The weather was nice, and this voyage was suppose to be just like any other. However, God was going to use this journey to get Jonah to turn from his wicked way.
Jonah buys a ticket and gets into a boat with rough, tough heathen sailors. It makes us wonder what Jonah was thinking? Did he think that because the weather was nice that he was justifying the whole thing? "If I get a ticket and find a ship, then it must be okay." Was he trying to convince himself that running from God was the right thing to do?
The storm came out of no where. The sailors were scared, and they were trying their hardest to fight against this tempest. There was talk of what god was doing this. Did some blame the devil for it? Someone was responsible!
The devil certainly does mess with us. He tries to get us out of God's will, and he'll use our own feelings and fears to do it.
Jonah was sleeping in the bottom of the ship. He had no idea what was going on out there on the deck. He was perfectly comfortable with his backslidden condition. The storm wasn't bothering him at all! You know, some times when we're out of God's will, we don't even recognize God's judgement in the situation; we've become too comfortable with our sin.
How many of us are sleeping in the church, comfortable with our "lifestyle" that we would let the world go to hell around us? Are we like Jonah in the bottom of the ship? What is God going to have to send our way to get our attention?
