4 However, the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea, and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid, and every man cried out to his god, and they hurled the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the stern of the ship, had lain down, and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”
Let’s face it. There are times in our lives when we want to run and hide. We decide we don’t want to do what God wants us to do, and somehow, running away seems best. HOWEVER. That’s right. There is always a HOWEVER. The HOWEVER is when God takes His rightful position, does something quite extraordinary to get our attention, and reminds us that His way is best.
Religious people will look anywhere for help
Verse 4 states that the ship was about to break up. God forcefully “threw down” a great wind on the sea. This must have been some kind of storm for the seasoned seamen to be overtaken by worry. And it was. Their livelihood and their very lives were at stake.
They seemed religious, but religious people don’t always get it right. They each cried out to their god. This tells me that there were many different gods worshipped on that boat. Can you imagine that scene? The winds and waves crashed into the sides of the boat headed to Tarshish and “away from God’s presence.” Each was overcome with fear of the ship violently breaking apart. There was a real fear of death by drowning.
Religious people seek human solutions
I find it interesting that they called on their different gods but then immediately took the boat’s cargo and hurled it into the sea. Perhaps a lighter load would not cause the boat to sit as low in the water and allow the water to explode against the boat’s sides and break it apart. HOWEVER, that didn’t work.
Religious people get comfortable in their own solutions
That’s the way I look at Jonah. This story reminds me of the time Jesus was on the boat sleeping during a similar kind of storm (Matthew 8:24). The difference was that Jesus was in control of the winds and waves. Jonah wasn’t even in charge of Jonah. Jonah was sleeping and perhaps even with a settled mind. All was good because he was on sailing away from God’s presence. Jonah found his way to the stern of the boat. For a southern boy like myself, the stern of the boat means the back of the boat. The ride would have certainly been a little more comfortable than at the bow (the front).
Do you ever wonder what Jonah must have been thinking as he dozed off? Was he living in light of his overconfidence? Have you ever talked yourself into a false sense of security? I believe Jonah did.
Notice that Jonah wasn’t just sleeping.
He was SOUND ASLEEP. In the zone. Totally out of it. When a person has some heavy things on their mind, they have a challenging time sleeping. Not Jonah. He was on the boat, and his plan to run away from God was the perfect plan.
Religious people will seek any answer that seems to work
On the deck, nothing was working. The sailors cried out in fear to their many gods. That didn’t work. They threw much of their cargo overboard. That didn’t work. Next was to go to Jonah. As Jonah got on the boat, he undoubtedly told them he was running from the Lord (Jonah 1:10). Was Jonah proud that he was running?
The captain knew Jonah was some kind of religious person, so he went down into the stern to seek Jonah’s help.
Has someone ever questioned your faith or your walk with the Lord? I believe this is precisely what was happening in the stern of that boat.
The captain looked at Jonah in amazement that he could sleep through the harsh and potentially fatal conditions. “HOW CAN YOU SLEEP?”
You can see the picture, right? On the deck of the boat…bedlam. In the stern of the boat…a clear conscience. The captain woke Jonah and told him to call on his God so that perhaps He would save them.
It was like playing the slots in Las Vegas. Pull down the handle and pray to another god. Each prior pull left the captain and his crew with no relief. Maybe Jonah’s God would be different.
The captain just wanted to save his boat and crew.
What did we learn this morning?
Religious people aren’t necessarily godly people. That’s it. That’s the essence of what we see in these couple of verses. You may be a church member, go every week, pray prayers, help people, and outwardly look godly, but your secret life says that your heart is far from God (Matthew 15:8).
Think about Jonah. When the captain came and asked Jonah to pray to his God, I imagine Jonah’s heart sunk. Jonah wasn’t interested in seeking God’s protection or provision. Jonah was in the middle of the great escape of the century. He was running away from God, and the captain asked Jonah to run again towards God. What a life of misery for a person who is running away from God’s presence.
How about you? Are you running away from or running towards God? Your direction makes all the difference in God’s protection.