Two weeks ago, I started reading about Jonah and last week Sunday I go to church and what do you know, Jonah is the subject matter…

Jonah is one of the shortest books of the bible with only 4 chapters.  I do encourage you to read it and demystify all the stories you have heard from many who never read the actual story at all (hahaha).

Maybe let me first tell you something you didn’t know about me; I am one of those Christians that believe in signs and messages from God being all around us. I honestly believe that God does speak to us quiet often through His word, through signs and wonders, through vision and dreams. He says in Isaiah “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” – Isaiah 30:21 and in the new testament, the book of John he reminds us how we will know when He says “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” – John 10:27. Anyway, so naturally I am still in the Jonah season because I know that when I receive scripture twice or trice at a point in time there is something for me there.

And so, I began to ask myself this question, am I a Jonah in your ship or maybe are you a Jonah in my ship or someone’s ship?  How many of us think about scripture this way? Reflect on being the person represented in a not so good light.

Jonah is an interesting guy; the bible tells us Jonah was a prophet and so it is natural to conclude that his entire purpose was to be a messenger of God. His job was to speak on behalf of God as God directs Him.  In this short book we learn that Prophet Jonah’s time to shine and live to fulfill his purpose came for him as God called Him to go to Nineveh, but Jonah decided, the mission was not what he was interested in pursuing (for reasons found in the book if you are interested to find out more😊)

Fast forward to pre everyone’s favorite scene, Jonah is running away avoiding the mission, he finds himself on a ship to Tarshish and he pays and travels with these gentlemen to the opposite end of where he was meant to go. His disobedience to God causes problems for everyone in the ship, suddenly there is a mighty wind at sea that rocks the ship to a point where cargo is offloaded just to lighten the load on the ship.  Questions get asked, the atmosphere is felt and is unfamiliar to those who normally travel this route.  They have no answers, but they know something is up. Good old Jonah is resting, sleeping nicely at the bottom of the ship unbothered. Jonah1:6 says the captain came to him and said to him “what do you mean by this, sleeper? Arise and call on your God. Perhaps your God will think about us, so that we do not perish”

After trying to figure out what was going on and who this man was, they gave a lift, Jonah eventually confesses that he knows why the storm was upon them.  In not so many words he tells them that he is a Hebrew (Christian let’s say) and acknowledges that he believes in God who made heaven and earth and the seas that they were now struggling to calm down.

These men quickly realize that he is the one who upset God and therefore he needed to fix things or make right with his God to spare their lives.  Jonah eventually volunteers to be thrown in the ocean to calm the storm and let these men be saved. The men themselves get a revelation of Jonah’s God through this experience, they cry out to Him and beg for their lives. After they throw Jonah into the sea, they still make their own sacrifices and vows to God, making their own agreements with the Lord, acknowledging Jonah’s God and making a covenant with Him at their point of need.

Sadly, I will not get to everyone’s favorite part of Jonah being swallowed by the fish today 😊, but I do want to share with you a few things I learned asking myself this question having read just chapter 1 of the book.

Am I Jonah in your ship or are you a Jonah on my ship or someone else’s ship?  

  • Jonah was given a clear mandate by God; He was called to be a messenger (let’s say so I don’t throw you off with titles that seem big).
  • Jonah chose to be disobedient even though he knew what God had asked Him to do. If you read further in the book, you will hear the reasons Jonah chose to be disobedient.  Isn’t it interesting we sometimes choose to be disobedient and justify our disobedience?
  • Jonah tried to flee from God and ran away to a far away country or so he thought. He tried to do something extremely off the mission so that he could be disqualified from the job. The purpose if we think about ourselves, something we often pray about and ask God to reveal. What do we do when He does finally reveal it?
  • If Jonah is known as a prophet, that would mean he accepted the calling of a prophet but what he did not anticipate was the kind of prophetic work he would be asked to do.  A task to go to Nineveh seems to have been misaligned to what he thought would have to be his task. He had his own ideas around how this role was to play out.  Does that sound familiar? Do you also like me ask God to show you your purpose but you kind of have an idea of how it should go?
  • Jonah’s presence in the ship changed the atmosphere, those who knew, knew something was up and it was not normal. The bible tells us, they cast lot to try and figure out who the troublemaker was. Because truly when God is not pleased we can tell. Deep down we just know.
  • A real interesting character this Jonah, his disobedience causes commotion on the ship, but he is found sleeping unbothered. Sorry, am I a Jonah? Maybe I am a Jonah walking into spaces and occupying seats that were never mine and closing the door behind me when the wind rocks the boat.  Maybe you are a Jonah, walking into people’ lives and turning their lives upside down because you are where you aren’t supposed to be. God sends you to go help his people and you go and date them.

Perhaps this moment now is your moment, this is your “I am Jonah” moment, maybe this post is for you to confess and admit who you are. Maybe you do not need to read the full book of Jonah, you just need to read the full book of who you are and quickly off-load.  I know what its like to be a Jonah, causing problems where there are none because you have no peace with who you have chosen to be when you know who you really are.  Perhaps its time for you to embrace who you are so your God can calm the storm you have created.

Maybe you want to know that it is safe to change your mind, read on the book of Jonah and see how merciful this God of ours really is.  Even if you admit who you really are and you get rejected, like Jonah God will make provision for your soft landing.  Even if you do not completely trust yourself, trust the God of Jonah, who is a God of provision, a God of love and mercy.  If there is a boat or a ship you are rocking with your uncharacterized presence, I hope this blog post finds you and gives you courage to offload yourself into the rough seas and trust God’s plan for your life.

The bible tells us that all things work out for the good to those who love the Lord. You know when Jonah introduced himself to the men on the ship, he said ” I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord”, (fear here means worship, reverence). Did you notice before Jonah left the ship he had influenced these men for the Lord. They prayed to the same God, they made vows. Thats verse 16. They had an encounter, and it changed their lives.

If you also do not know about this God and His son Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, I hope this post becomes your encounter. I hope this brings you closer to Him. Do pop me a mail and let me know if you would like to receive Christ, I’d be honored to journey with you!

Be Blessed 

#QuenchMyThirst #ThirstyThursday 

Thank God, Jesus pursued me.

LM

Lungie@quenchmythirst.life