Jonah and Me

God, who decided not to let him off easy, sent a raging storm knocking the boat to and fro. The seamen recognizing Jonah as a foreigner questioned who he was and what was happening. Jonah, who had purposely fled God's calling on his life, had the gall to respond with, "I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven." (9) Then he simply states that he is running away from the Lord.

How is it that Jonah can worship God, yet be running away from him? Aren't the two, essentially, polar opposites? Do normal people run away from people they not only love, but also worship? I am in shock of Jonah's actions.

Then I realized, I do this every day.

I am no better than Jonah.

I claim to worship God, to love him, and while I don't know his exact purpose for me, I do know what his purpose isn't, but my actions don't always show that.

I like Jonah, not only risk, but actually do, come off like a hypocrite. I Say I worship Christ, yet I run from his teachings. I run from loving his people, I run from the hard places he wants me to be.

A few sentences later Jonah, admits, "This terrible storm is all my fault." (12) He does not try to blame God for sending it; he readily admits that it is caused by his own actions. How many storms in our own lives are caused by ourselves? And how many times do we try to blame them on not only others, but on God?

What's amazing about this chapter is that it doesn't end with Jonah making the fishermen angry, it ends with them accepting Christ as their Lord. Oh, and Jonah gets thrown overboard to be swallowed by a whale.

God is not going to let Jonah drown, because he still has a purpose for him. Jonah just needs some time alone to realign his thoughts, and realize that if he is going to say he worships God, he better act like it….Or he's probably not getting out of that fish.