God Still Sends Storms
The Man

Scripture Reading: Jonah 1:4-6

Key Verse: Jonah 1:3
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.

It is interesting that the name Jonah means “dove”. The dove, in scriptures, was always a symbol of hope and peace. Noah sent a dove out at the end of the flood to find out if there was dry land. When John baptized Jesus, the Spirit fell upon Him in the form of a dove. Jonah was to be God’s voice to a large city of people that needed hope and the peace of God!

As we know, Jonah was not true to his name and ran from the task that God had called him to. He found a ship to take him as far away from Nineveh as possible! God sent a storm — a violent one. Onlookers, if they knew the story of Jonah, would have surely thought: How angry is God!

It would be easy to evaluate the situation at this point and believe we were seeing Jonah punished for his disobedience. “Storms” have a way of making us think that way. When we have bad things happen to us, don’t we normally think: “What have I done to deserve this? God is getting back at me for my failures.”

The storm God sent Jonah’s way was not for punishment, but for correction. God cared too much for Jonah to allow him to miss this powerful lesson about the mercy of God. Jonah had some “bad” thinking going on in his head. God loved him so much He did not want it to continue to wreck Jonah’s life.

Our “storms” are great opportunities to learn something new about God. These storms are seldom fun or easy, but vitally important to our growth in following Christ.

Father, help me to look for the lessons You have for me in the storms I face! In Jesus’s Name, amen.