September 26th, 2013
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

A Disastrous Cruise

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Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, I praise You that You are so majestic, but I also praise You that You are so knowable.

Read Jonah 1:1-17

[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.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

God made us in his image and we constantly try to remake him in ours. Praise God he’s not like us!

Think Further

If we read Jonah 1 out of the context of the whole book we would probably think that Jonah ran away from God because the task assigned him was too hard and that the storm and Jonah’s subsequent adversities were God’s punishment for his disobedience. Chapter 4, however, makes it clear that the whole of the book of Jonah is about God’s mercy. Jonah ran away from God because he didn’t like the thought that God’s mercy might stretch as far as Nineveh, and he certainly didn’t want to play any part in that mercy being demonstrated to Assyrians. This may be understandable when we consider the extent of Nineveh’s atrocities, but it is not acceptable for anyone committed to following the God of mercy. We can’t pick and choose those elements of God’s character we think should be applied in a given situation. God is bigger, better, more merciful and more awesome than we or Jonah would sometimes like him to be. 

The awfulness of the voyage towards Tarshish, resulting in Jonah’s being thrown in the sea and swallowed by a fish, was not a punishment from God but a further sign of his mercy towards Jonah. If Jonah was to be the best that he could be for God and achieve his full potential, then there were things that he had to learn. Because of his stubbornness, such learning could only come through very hard lessons. If God had let him simply move away from Nineveh’s influence, Jonah would never have come to terms with who God really is, and that would have been a huge loss for him. God, however, is ready to show mercy not just to Nineveh but even to stubborn Jonah and, incidentally, to the good-hearted, if somewhat theologically confused, sailors at the same time.

Apply

Do you accept God as he really is, or only want to worship him if he conforms to certain expectations? Praise God for who he is and all he is.

Closing prayer

Father, Your call can be clear but, like Jonah, I have resisted it at times. Forgive me when I’ve gone in the opposite direction. How patient You are!

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