Jonah Flees From the Lord
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 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.6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”
7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) 11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” 12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. 17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Everyone knows the story. Hard to find something new to say about it. But today as I read it again I was thinking about another boat. Another storm. Another man in a deep sleep whilst those sailing the boat were in a panic and sure they were going to die. Funny how the Bible has threads running through it and how Jesus ties them all up so that there is one consistent narrative spanning the whole of human history. The usual comparison between Jonah and Jesus is the three days thing. Belly of the fish, days in the tomb, brought back to life etc etc.
But that's not what stands out to me today.
Jonah and Jesus are both on a mission from God to tell people that they need to repent and turn to Him in order to be saved. Jonah bottles out and runs, Jesus embraces the task in complete obedience. They both end up in a storm though. Jesus's obedience did not guarantee Him a smooth ride. He faced exactly the same circumstances that Jonahs disobedience caused him. That hardly seems fair does it? I mean, you can understand that God is mad at Jonah for running away and not doing what he has been told to do. A storm seems like a good way of dealing with Jonah - of getting his attention and then getting him back to the place he needed to be, repentant, ready to fulfill the calling. But Jesus had done nothing wrong. He wasnt running away. He was faithfully carrying out God's purposes. And He still ended up in a storm!
Sometimes we can look at what is going on around us and it just doesnt make sense. We are sure we are doing what we are supposed to be doing. We pray and read and fellowship. We tithe and worship and confess our sins. We put our trust in God and submit as far as we are able - yet we wake up one day up to our necks in water, about to drown, screeching for help surrounded by darkness...... it's not fair!
Jonah and Jesus react differently to the storms they face. Jonah is instantly convicted of his sin. He knows what this storm is all about. At least he is decent enough to own up and volunteers to lose his life rather than see the ship go down with the loss of many. That's a very noble response. I wonder how Jonah is feeling at this point. Wretched and terrified I would imagine. Possibly he feels that death is a good way out of this terrible situation he has brought upon himself. Poor Jonah. I feel sorry for him. Jesus, on the other hand, knows what His storm is about too. Jesus knows that He has authority over the wind and the waves. He knows He has an enemy who is trying to wipe Him out and that He has been given a task to complete which is not yet finished. So He has no fear. He has faith in His mission, in His Father and in His own authority. He stands up and tells the storm to stop. And it does. 
If you are in a storm at the moment how are you responding? Is the storm there to show you that you are running away and that you need to get back on track with God? Do you need to repent and turn around before you take other people down with you? Or is your storm an attack of the enemy to try to divert you from the mission God has set before you? Is it time to remind yourself about Gods promises to you and His ability to keep those promises? Is it time to stand in the authority God has given you in Jesus and speak to your storm?
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