“Then they said to him, ‘What shall we do that the sea may be calm for us?’ for the sea was growing more tempestuous. And he said to them, ‘Pick me up, and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.” ~ Jonah 1:11,12 …….
Have you been experiencing a big storm lately that was unexpected? Is your boat rocking and reeling? Perhaps you’ve got a Jonah onboard that needs to be thrown overboard. Notice that these sailors asked Jonah, “What shall we do that the sea may be calm for us?” They found out that something had to be done with Jonah for the sea to become calm again. They needed to make a big change.
We can learn a lot from the story of Jonah. These sailors put up with Jonah being onboard until it became evident that they weren’t going to make it with him on the ship. Many times people will put up with “Jonahs” in their lives until it almost brings them down. When they finally threw Jonah overboard everything became calm again. The same thing is true for us — when we finally get rid of our Jonah, things become calm for us again.
So…. who has gotten in your board in recent days or years? What Jonah is sleeping in your lower deck? Is it laziness, procrastination, some secret sin, disobedience of some kind, unfaithfulness with the money you’ve been blessed with, or could it be a bad attitude? A lot of things can become a Jonah in our lives. No matter what kind of Jonah has climbed aboard your ship recently, throw him overboard and the seas will become calm for you once again!