Passage: Jonah 1:3-6
The Big Idea
Jonah is running from God, but God will not let His son go. Like a father running after a child who storms out of the house, God chases Jonah down, and the storm is how He does it.
Run, Jonah, Run
Jonah does not want God’s will. He will not carry a message of God’s love and forgiveness to the Assyrians. “Not Your will, but mine be done.” God’s will seems crazy, difficult, dangerous and unfair.
When we reject God’s will, the Bible calls it sin. And Jonah is running down that road. What happens to a person who runs away from God? We are about to find out.
The Prodigal Pattern (Luke 15:11-14)
Keep the prodigal son in mind as you read Jonah 1.
- The younger son says, in effect, “I wish you were dead. I want my will, not yours.”
- He runs to a far country and spends everything on the opposite of what his father wanted.
- Then a famine hits. The storm helps him feel his need and see where he is.
Not every storm is because of sin. Storms come to strengthen our faith, to test it, to display it, or simply because we live in a broken world with other people’s choices. But when we choose to run from God, the Father does not shrug and let us go. He comes after us, sometimes with a storm, because He wants us back home.
Read: Jonah 1:3-6
Running is always downhill
Jonah goes down to Joppa and down into the ship. Running from God is a downward descent. You are not getting anywhere but worse.
There is always a fare
Jonah paid the fare (Jonah 1:3). A life of running always has a fare, and it is always more than you thought. Jonah thought he was paying for a ticket. He did not read the fine print: a free disaster-death-storm was included. The enemy never mentions the price. He just sells you a golden ticket to “freedom” away from God.
The Lord hurled a storm
The Lord sent a great wind out on the sea (Jonah 1:4). The word pictures God throwing a storm like a spear. Sin always has consequences: in our bodies, our friendships, our homes, our society. And at every moment there is also an opportunity to turn around.
Some storms are slow. Bitterness, for example, feels satisfying at first. We fantasize about payback. But slowly it enlarges our capacity for self-pity, erodes our ability to trust and enjoy people, and drains the happiness out of daily life. Sin has a way of finding us out (Numbers 32:23).
The Pagans and the Prophet
Two groups on the same ship. Watch how they respond. At every point, the pagan sailors act better than God’s prophet.
- Jonah ran because he did not want to tell pagans about God. Now pagans are telling him about God.
- Jonah is sleeping an escapist, depressed sleep. The sailors are praying and working for the good of everyone on board, in a storm that was not even their fault.
- Jonah is trying to escape reality. They are dealing with it.
- Jonah, the spiritual man, does not pray. The pagans do.
- The pagans recognize this storm is from God. Jonah does not.
- God sent the prophet to call the pagans to Himself. Now the pagans are calling the prophet back to God.
The captain’s questions expose Jonah’s heart: “Can’t you see we are about to die? Why aren’t you doing anything?” Jonah did not care. He only wanted to serve God’s people and have nothing to do with the world.
We Are All in the Same Boat
When crime, sickness or economic trouble hits, we are all in the same neighborhood. Every person is made in God’s image and is infinitely precious to Him.
Jonah was silent about God and useless to practical needs. God’s heart is that we would do both: share the good news, and help people through their storms (James 2:14-17). Who is my neighbor? Jesus says it is anyone in need, no matter who they are or what they have done. Jonah is the opposite of the Good Samaritan.
Two Men Asleep in a Storm
Another man slept on a boat in a storm: Jesus.
- Jesus slept because He was resting in the Father’s will. Jonah slept because he was running from it.
- Jesus had peace because He never ignored God. Jonah sought peace by ignoring God.
- Jesus knew who controlled the storm. Jonah was running from the One who controlled it.
- Jesus trusted His Father to carry Him through. Jonah hoped God would just forget about him.
Jesus is the true Son who rested perfectly in the Father’s love, and through Him that same rest is ours.
Grace Takeaway
When you find yourself in a storm, ask honestly: “Am I running from God?”
- If yes: turn around. The Father is not waiting with a stick; He is running toward you. Agree with Him and come home.
- If no: rest. Trust that your Father will bring you through in His own way and time.
Either way, look around at the people in the boat with you. Pray for them, serve them, and point them to the God who loves them too.