You've got to hand it to the seamen on board the ship with Jonah. They tried everything to get out of that storm. It was Jonah who got them into this mess. Jonah was told to go to Nineveh to the north and he went southwest to Joppa. Tarshish is in Spain much farther away than Nineveh. It cost more for this trip, but Jonah wanted as far from the north and God as he could.
Look at the direction you are in–the path you spend your time on–the person you are becoming. There are no gray areas. You are either closer to God or farther away. Look at the direction of your life; look to what God wants; fulfill the will of God.
Jonah 1:4, 10-13 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty
tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him,
Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the
presence of the LORD, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee,
that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was
tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth
into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my
sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.
You cannot claim to love God and willfully go away from his will. You cannot hang onto your profession of Christianity but follow your own will. We choose the opposite way when we do this. You're either in the right direction or the wrong one, God's direction or the opposite. You can go the wrong way for a while and the seas may be calm–for a while. Jonah relaxed and went to sleep in the boat as if to say he had gotten past God; it's ok to be a prophet of God but go the wrong direction. If you go against God's will, it will get worse. No trials now? Sooner or later they will come.
The seamen faced a storm when they were in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea; there was nowhere to go for safety. The storm overtook them. Jonah would soon find out that you cannot run from God and do what you want. There are no compromises; there is no bargaining. God's will is stated and you can fulfill it. If you run from it, you'll find yourself just like Jonah, in the middle of a storm. Everyone in the ship was affected and suffered by Jonah's disobedience; yet he slept. The mariners prayed to all their gods but nothing helped. You can do whatever you want but there is no substitute for God to take the misery out of you life.
They woke Jonah, and he confessed he was running from the Lord. A lot of people look to you and when you go down they go with you. You must first admit you're wrong and God is right. In effect one man would have to die for the whole ship to survive.
You need to hold off on Jesus just as Savior and concentrate on him being Lord. He cannot be your Savior if he is not Lord first. You can say you are a Christian all day long but if everything you do points another direction he is not Lord. Jonah was a prophet, but God was not his Lord. No matter what HE MUST BE LORD. Jonah thought he could be a prophet and run away from God. If you put God off the throne of your heart, it won't go empty. You'll be worse off than ever. You can't hold two things at one time; you either let go of sin or you let go of the Lord. You cannot serve two masters.
Jonah was running. Do you like where you are going? Do you think you have it made? It's easy to be glad you're a member of this church, that you teach Sunday school or whatever you do, but are you like Jonah? You cannot be a Christian one minute and yourself the next minute; if yourself is not Christian then you are not much at all.
Can you sleep? Are you worried? Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. LIFE IS NOT A DREAM. The harder the storm the more you row. You may say "the Lord is with me." Is he? God told the church in Revelation that they were not cold or hot–there were lukewarm and he spewed them out of his mouth. He won't take that. The Bible says the way of the transgressor is hard. A transgressor is one who once trusted God but is not walking with him. You'll be in trouble sooner or later.
Do you row and have dual lives, duel allegiances? You can't do it long; the storm will catch up with you. This storm even blocked the seamen from land. The only way is the way God chooses; at Jonah's request they did throw him overboard. We need to cast away whatever we have to. Throw away what may take you overboard. He that seeketh mercy will find it. Are you saying "I've not done anything real bad." What is the difference in bad and real bad? Nothing.
Look at your path. It may sink your boat. They got out the oars and rowed and rowed trying the best they could, but they got nowhere fast. The calm water came; the storm went away when Jonah was tossed into the sea. Have you rowed long enough and hard enough? The only way for calm water to come to you is to come back to God.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 