Jonah and the whale is a pretty common story told in churches. It’s can be a simple story for children teaching them to obey God and trust Him or you can go deeper as you get older and can learn so much more. I recently heard a message given at church that brought up a new perspective. This message focused more on the beginning and I want to share it with you all. 🙂
Here’s a quick review of the beginning of Jonah:
God asked Jonah to go to the town of Niveveh because the people there were starting to fall into the devils ways and God wanted someone to preach against that. Jonah completely disregarded this command and ran the opposite direction to a town called Tarshish. Since Jonah did not follow the Lord’s command, He sent a storm across the waters which threatened to break the ship. Although all the sailors were frightened, Jonah went below the deck and fell asleep. Shortly after, the captain came down saying “What’s this? Sleeping! Get up! Pray to your god! Maybe your god will see we’re in trouble and rescue us.” (MSG) Eventually Jonah admitted the storm was his fault since he had disobeyed God’s command. Jonah told the sailors to throw him off board and the storm would stop. Once this was done, the storm immediately stopped. Jonah 1:1-16
*The rest of Jonah is great but that’s where I’m going to stop. If you’re curious, keep reading more in your Bible! All of Jonah’s story is really good!*
With all that being said….
Have you ever felt like you’re in a never ending storm? A place in life where everything seems to be going wrong. You’re always tired. Very few things make you happy, and when they do, it only lasts for a short time period.
During those times, what did you do? Sit and wait for it to end? Ignore it? Try to push through? Did you ever sit down and trying to figure out why you’re in a storm?
If I am honest, I usually don’t stop to think why I’m in a storm. Most of the time I shrug it off and wait for it to pass. But this story has taught me something different. It’s taught me that sometimes God puts us in a storm on purpose.
A storm that’s trying to tell us “Stop! Turn around! You didn’t listen to me!” A storm that is saying “The other way is so much better.”
Stop to think about it. Is God saying “I am the storm.” Is there something in your life that God called you into and you turned to walk the other direction? Is He trying to tell you to turn and be obedient to what He said the first time?
Listen to this: “God will disrupt your distractions to get you to the place He wants you in.”
Your storm may just be a disruption to all that you’ve been letting distract you from God’s calling. God’s trying to get your attention. He’s trying to get you to turn to the path that will actually bring peace.
Hear this: “The peace of God is only found in the will of God.”
Wow. That’s deep. God may be putting storms in your life to give you a wake up call. He’s saying, “Look up!! I am trying to warn you! Go the other way! I have so many better things planned for you if you would just listen and trust me!”
So are you in a storm right now? Is this what God’s trying to tell you? I encourage you to sit with God and ask Him. Ask Him what you can do to get out of the storm and have complete peace and rest in Him.
And that’s all I have folks! It’s kind of a jumble of thoughts, so I pray what you need to hear speaks to you clearly. I pray you take what God wants you to take and talk to Him about it.
As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments below! I always love hearing your thoughts!
Lots of prayers are being sent your way during this holiday season. Remember the reason for the season, spend time with family, and rejoice in all that God’s blessed you with! Merry Christmas!!
Buckets of Love,
Paige :):):)
