Today we are going to take a look at how God’s mercy shows up in the storms of life and specifically, in your storm. Proverbs 10:25 says, “When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation” (NLT). It’s not IF the storms of life will come, it’s WHEN the storms of life come. What are the storms of life? They come in all shapes and sizes: a broken marriage, bad health, death of someone you loved, loss of a job, financial storm, relationship storm, health storm, emotional storm, etc.

Today, we will see a man who decides to run from God and runs right into a storm that God sent in order to get his attention. This storm in Jonah’s life is in direct relation to his decision to disobey God and do his own thing.

The Lord’s Discipline

Let me ask you a question. What do you do in the moment when it becomes overwhelmingly clear to you that God is telling you to do something, change something, or stop doing something? What do you do when God speaks to you about your life and mission? I’m not talking about something general, like you need to be more kind or more loving.

  • I mean God speaks to you and says, “You need to share the gospel with Jill.”
  • Or “You need to stop lying about what you did.”
  • Or “I want you to go on the mission trip with the youth”
  • or “I want you to give $500 dollars to the help build Genesis’ new campus”
  • or “I want you to end that relationship that is pulling you away from Me.”

Sometimes God will tell you to do something huge, that is life altering. The longer you wait to surrender and give God your “yes” to what He is revealing the more complicated your life becomes. The more you fight God on this, the more you run, the more you arm wrestle God on this, the more complicated life becomes. The reason why that happens is because of God’s loving discipline. Hebrews 12:6 says, “For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child” (NLT). God’s discipline and punishment are not out of anger, but out of love. His discipline in our lives when we rebel against Him and His punishment when we disobey is done out of His mercy. Your Heavenly Father’s discipline and punishment is not abuse, it’s loving and compassion correction. We see this in the life of Jonah.

One of the questions I’m asking myself is what does it look like to give God a “yes” faster. Rather than a delayed “yes” or what does it look like to say “yes” immediately?

  • I want you to share the gospel with them. Yes!
  • I want you to bless that family financially. Yes!
  • I want you to lovingly confront that man about the sin in his life. Yes!
  • I want you to go on that mission trip. Yes!
  • I want you to get more involved in the church. Yes!
  • I want you to start working at your job with enthusiasm. Yes!
  • I want you to stop that sin you are doing. Yes!

This is where Jonah comes in. God reveals to him a plan and an assignment that runs contrary to what he had in mind for his life. Instead of saying “yes,” instead of praying about it this guy runs in the exact opposite direction as fast and as far as he possibility can.

The Mirror of God’s Word

Before we move on, I want to help you to see the story of Jonah through the correct lens. Many of us look at the story of Jonah like we look through a window. We look through the store window to see what’s going on in there or we look through the window of the TV screen to watch a movie or story unfold. We see it, but we are not really involved in it. We evaluate Jonah and think how crazy it was for him to run from God or try to get away from the presence of God. We should not look at the story of Jonah that way, it’s not a window we look through, but a mirror we look at and see ourselves. In James 1, God’s Word is described as a mirror (James 1:22-24). When you start looking at the story of Jonah as though it’s a spiritual mirror you begin to see yourself in Jonah, the pagan sailors, and the Ninevites. As we go through the book of Jonah God will show you where you are and what you need to hear through this story.

Let’s dive back into the story of Jonah and let’s start at the beginning. Look at Jonah 1:1,

The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it, because their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship that was going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded it to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord. 4 However, the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea, so that the ship was about to break up.  (NASB)

But Jonah got up to flee

We are not told what Jonah got up to flee. Was he sitting? Was he kneeling? Was he lying prostrate before the Lord? Was he sleeping and God spoke to him in a dream? We don’t know. Whatever he was doing, he clearly heard a word from God and knew exactly what God wanted him to do, but instead of getting up and walking by faith and obedience, he got up to flee. He didn’t say “yes.” He said “no.” He didn’t get up to go get godly advice. He didn’t get up to pray more about it. He heard from God. He knew exactly what God wanted him to do. So, he gets up and he flees from what God wants him to do, but not only that, we are told that he got up to flee to Tarshish….

We need to see this on a map. Jonah is in Joppa and instead of going to Nineveh about 500 miles east, he goes west to Tarshish 2500 miles away. Jonah gets up after hearing from God, and he wants to flee as fast as he can and as far away as he can. He is in full sprint mode running from God.

Running from the Presence of God

But notice closely at what Jonah is running from. He is running from the presence of the Lord. What does it mean for Jonah to flee from the presence of the Lord and what does it mean for us to flee from the presence of the Lord? For Jonah, it can mean three things.

  • Fleeing from the presence of the Lord, means just that. He is hoping by going to another location or another place, he can somehow get away from God. Adam and Eve tried to do the same thing. They tried to hide themselves from God. They did it, now Jonah is trying to do his version of running and hiding from God.
  • Fleeing from the presence of the Lord, meant Jonah was resigning his ministry position. For a prophet of God to hear from God, he had to be in the presence of the Lord. Jonah is saying, “I am done with being your prophet. I don’t want to hear from you anymore. I quit.” He is walking away from his calling, his purpose, and his destiny. He doesn’t like what God has to say and what God is calling him to do, so he quits and does his own thing. He is fleeing from God and His calling on his life.
  • But there is another possibility of what fleeing from the presence of the Lord can mean. This man was seasoned in his relationship with God. He knew God. He knew that God’s presence was everywhere. He knew that God is omnipresent. This concept of God being omnipresent is taught from Genesis on. Did you know that God is everywhere at the same time all the time? Everywhere you go, God is going to be there. So you really can’t run away from God. You can try to run from God, but you can’t actually get away from God. Jonah knew that!

What was Jonah actually trying to get away from? Remember, Tarshish was about 2500 miles away from Joppa, where Jonah was. God was telling Jonah to go to Nineveh about 500 miles away from where he was. Jonah decided to go 2500 miles in the opposite direction. Tarshish was about as far as you could go in the known world at that time. Jonah is saying, “I want to get as far away from God as I can.” But what was he actually running from? He was trying to get as far away from Jerusalem. Now why? In Jerusalem was the Temple of God. In Jerusalem was where the presence of God hung out. Of course, God is omnipresent, but His manifest presence was in Jerusalem. That’s where God spoke to his people, that’s where the ark of the covenant was, this is where the prophets and the priest would hear the voice of God, this is where the sacrifices for the atonement for sin was taking place. Jerusalem was the city of God. God showed up in Jerusalem. Jonah wanted to do everything he could in his rebellion to get as far away from the manifest presence of God as he possibly could.

Now listen carefully, one of the ways you can determine if you are on the run from God is when you are trying to stay away from places where God’s manifest presence hangs out. This is one reason why some people will stop going to church, stop going to Bible study, stop reading the Bible, stop listening to worship music, and stop being around other believers. They are running away from God. Sometimes people will find others running from God and join them. This is when they start going to places they shouldn’t, hanging out with people who take them further away from God, and doing things that does not honor God.

You may say, “I’m in church today, so I’m not running from God.” You may be in church today, but you may still be running. When we are singing songs and praise to God or when the sermon is being preached, you mentally and emotionally check out. You are running from God in His own house.

Here is Jonah running from the presence of God. Are you running from God’s presence? You don’t want to hang out where God’s presence shows up. Are you running away from that?

Running from God will cost you

Do you realize that running from God is going to cost you? Look at verse 3 again, But Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship that was going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded it to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord (NASB). Some Bible scholars believe that he didn’t just pay any ticket or fare to get on the ship, but that he paid the whole fare for the ship. He rented the entire crew and ship so that he could have entire control of where it went, how fast it went, and when it could leave. He wanted to leave immediately. I don’t know the amount that he paid, but can you imagine how much of his own resources were spent running from God? Can I tell you that running from God is going to cost you so much more than you are going to want to pay.

How much money was wasted because someone was running from God? How many reputations have been damaged because someone was running from God? How many families have been destroyed because someone was running from God? How many children have been left behind because someone was running from God? How many mental and emotional scars have been produced because someone was running from God? How much shame and guilt has been produced because someone was running from God? Running from the presence of the Lord will cost you!

Here is another thought. When Jonah decided to run from God we are told he found a ship that would take him away from God’s presence. When you decide to run from God, the devil will provide the ride! When you decide to flee from God, the devil will provide that relationship that will pull you away from God and keep you out of God’s call upon your life. The devil will provide that group of friends to take you as far away from God as you want to go. The devil will provide whatever you want to move you away from God’s purpose for your life. When you run from God, the devil is going to provide a ride.

The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea

Then in verse 4 we read, However, the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea, so that the ship was about to break up. 

We are told, the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea. The word hurled is often used for throwing a weapon such as a spear (1 Sam. 18:11). It is a vivid picture of God launching a great wind and storm at and around Jonah.

Listen carefully, when you run from God’s presence, you will run into God’s presence. But His presence will be in the form of a storm. Since you wouldn’t listen to His voice, then maybe you listen His storm.

Conclusion

We will look at this in more detail next week, but what you need to see right now is that God sent the storm not because he hated Jonah, but because He loved Jonah.  Hebrews 12:6 says, For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child (NLT). We are not talking abuse. We are talking about God’s loving and compassionate discipline and punishment. When you run from God, God will run to you. He will bring godly people into your life to get you back into His calling for your life and His purpose for your life. But God will also bring difficult and hard times to get your attention. He does that because He loves you and that is God’s mercy. If you are running from God, stop.