Trying to Sleep through the Storm
This child of ours could sleep anywhere when he was young.
Even with siblings on top of him.
Still into adulthood and now...
fatherhood, he can snap a nap!
October 25
Although I'm still in chapter one of Jonah, the action is escalating. We will see how, as Shirer puts it, "God had even orchestrated Jonah's life, Jonah's rebellion, and Jonah's consequences so that they would be tools needed to convert sinners. The storm created by Jonah's rebellion was the perfect backdrop for them to meet the one true God, the One who governed the sea."
But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down, and fallen sound asleep. Jonah 1:5
The story of Jonah is one I began hearing as a child in Sunday School, but up to this point I don't believe I've ever studied the aspect of Jonah sleeping through the severe storm. The captain of the ship had to rouse Jonah, while everyone else was up and in a panic. The author shares various commentators views on how this could have happened. Exhaustion, knowledge the storm was from God and he was ready to meet the consequences, a hardened heart, or possibly guilt from the sin of disobedience was easiest to deal with by sleeping it away. Shirer believes Jonah may have felt justified in his decision to go to Tarshish, not Nineveh.
She writes: "I can't help but wonder if Jonah's justification led to a lack of sensitivity to God. After all, the hardening of a tender heart almost always starts with a justifiable action. Was a hardened heart the real reason Jonah slept through such a tumultuous storm? Was he too calloused to God's desires, His prompting and even His correction to take note of the storm? He was, after all, on a run from God not only with his feet but with his heart as well."
The story gets even more interesting in that the captain of the ship awakened Jonah to call to his god.
Shirer states: "The world with its pagan thoughts and ideals, shouldn't have to rouse us back to intimacy with the one true God. Rather, the soft stirring of the Spirit's conviction in us should be enough to cause us to "Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." (Ephesians 5:14)
It took casting lots and having the lot fall on Jonah before he told them who his one true God was. When they tossed him in the sea, it became calm immediately. Whoa....Yahweh got the hooray! The Bible tells us they were so stunned by what God did that they begged him for mercy because they had thrown Jonah overboard.
Shirer points out..."Again, these pagans had regard for human life when Jonah, the believer, had no regard for the lives of the Ninevites."
Praise God he is merciful and willing to work all things together for the good of those who love him.
Instead of sleeping through your next "storm of life" ask God to teach you in the midst of it.
Promise yourself you will take time alone with the Lord today...even if you have to get in the bathtub and pretend you've been tossed into the sea.
The next time you see an egg, remember how quickly it can become hard, especially in boiling situations.
