Facing The Squall

The useful part

"Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up." (Jonah 1:4) The kitchen clock read 3:14 AM when the house finally grew completely still, but sleep was miles away. Staring at the ceiling, the weight of a messy decision pressed down with suffocating pressure. Everyone has experienced that moment when the panic of their own choices collides with reality.

How it works

• It is easy to look at the wreckage of a misstep and assume that God has packed His bags and walked away.
• We tend to think that when we make a mess of things, we are entirely on our own to swim out of the deep water.
• He found himself caught in the fury of a violent gale, but the storm on the outside was merely a reflection of the rebellion swirling in his heart.
• God had given him clear instructions to go to Nineveh, but Jonah laced up his boots and bought a ticket for a ship heading in the exact opposite direction.
• When the sailors realized the vessel was about to shatter against the waves, Jonah did something truly remarkable.

What to take from it

He stepped forward, took responsibility, and allowed himself to be thrown overboard. Many people look at that fish as a harsh punishment or a divine timeout for his rebellion. Jonah could never have survived swimming alone in the freezing, pitch-black sea during such a tempest.

Example or evidence

• He had instructed him to go, driven entirely by the faithfulness of His character and met by the humbleness of Jonah's radical repentance.

Details worth keeping

We see this beautifully illustrated in the story of Jonah. Jonah was immediately swallowed by a great fish. The squalls of life will come, but if we allow them...