Take your Bibles and open them to Jonah 1. Last week, we left Jonah admitting to the sailors that he was running from God. He was rebelling against God and disobeying God. Jonah knew better. God had used him throughout his life, but Jonah was now running from God’s purpose and mission for his life. He had found a ship that would take him to Tarshish, the furthest place away from Joppa known to them at the time. While out on the sea, God sent a violent storm upon Jonah. The sailors became very afraid and started praying to their gods for help. They started casting the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. They woke Jonah up and cast lots to see who was the cause of this catastrophe. The lots pointed to Jonah. He was the reason why the storm was occurring. The crew and Jonah are now having a desperate conversation in the midst of the storm about all this. We pick up the story in verse 11.

Verse 11

Verse 11 says, So they said to him, “What should we do to you so that the sea will become calm for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 

Let’s look at the last statement first. We are told “the sea was becoming increasingly stormy.” The longer Jonah was running from God the more turbulent his life became and more turbulent the lives of others became because of him. The longer Jonah kept running from God, God continued to turn up the intensity of the storm to get his attention. Since Jonah wouldn’t listen to the word of God, maybe Jonah would listen to the storm of God.

As someone continues to run from God and rebel against him, disobey him, and to be stubborn against God’s Word and will, God will continue to increase the intensity of the storm in their life in order to get their attention and to draw them back to Himself. But let me remind us that the storm could have been avoided if Jonah would have said yes to God’s Word at the very beginning. The same is true for us.

But the sailors asked Jonah, “What should we do to you?” What should we do with you? How do we help you make this right? Have you ever had someone in your life who was running from God and you wanted to help them and so you ask them, “How can we help you? What do you need to do to make this right and how can we help?” The sailors are wanting to do the right thing. They are wanting to save their lives, their ship, and Jonah. There is a lot at stake here.

The people in your life who are caught up in the storm of your rebellion they are going to ask, “What should we do to you?” These people in your life (parents, spouse, children, friends, etc.), they want to help you and to calm the storm that’s around your life and around them. You have people in your life right now, who are hurting with you. They want to help you. They care about you. They haven’t walked out on you, and they haven’t given up on you. Let them love you and let them help you. They are in your storm with you, let them help you!

Verse 12

Look at Jonah’s sad and pitiful response to their offer of help in verse 12, And he said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, because I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 

There are a couple of ways to look at Jonah’s answer.

  • It’s an angry answer. He hates the Ninevites so much, that he would rather die than return to Joppa and go to Nineveh and deliver God’s message to them. I think there is definitely some of that going on within Jonah’s answer.
  • It’s a depressing answer. He has resigned from his position as a prophet of God, he has run from God, he has disobeyed God, and he knows that his decisions have brought this storm into his life and the life of those on the boat with him. He could be thinking that he has gone to far away from God and to deep into his own sin and selfishness that he cannot go back and the only option is to get rid of himself.

Jonah says, “I’m guilty. I brought it on.” I want you to see how heartbreaking this is. I want you to feel the sadness. Jonah reveals three things about himself here. Keep in mind who we are talking about.

Number one, he thinks he would be better off dead. Jonah tells them, Pick me up and hurl me into the sea. Just get rid of me. I’m no good anymore. Jonah wants to die, God wants him to live. Jonah has given up, but God is about to show up. Even though Jonah wants to die and the crew will eventually have to throw Jonah overboard, God has already sent a great fish on it’s way to rescue Jonah from death and to give Jonah a second chance. Jonah wants to be done with God, but God is not done with Jonah. God’s got big plans for Jonah.

There are going to be times in your life that you wish you were dead. Life is hard. Relationships are difficult. Being faithful to God in a world of unfaithfulness can wear you down. Those moments when you want to die and have relief from the pain and the hurt, God has merciful deliverance on it’s way to you in order to give you a second chance.

Number two, Jonah believes the lives of those in his life would be better off if he were dead. Jonah tells them that if they would get rid of him then the sea will become calm for [them]. To be honest, Jonah is correct. Their lives would be better if Jonah was not in it. He had made many poor decisions that was costing them, hurting them, and upsetting them. Jonah’s actions had created a lot of pain. Jonah thinks they would be better off if he were dead, but in reality they would be better off if he were to repent and turn to God and be the person that God had called him to be.

The people in your life would not be better without you, they need you to be who God called you to be. They need to love them, to encourage them, to show them the grace and mercy of God, they need you to listen to them, they need you to be there for them. They need you alive and alive to God!

Number three, Jonah knows that his decisions have created all this pain for himself and others. Jonah told them, I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you. One of the things I do appreciate about Jonah is that he owned it. He accepted the fact that it was he who was causing all this mess and anxiety and stress and storm in his life and the life of the those on the boat. He admits that his poor decisions are what has brought this storm into their lives.

When you admit, confess, and own what you have done and acknowledge that you are the cause of the pain, the stress, and the hurt in others lives… it not only is good for you, but it is good for those in your life to hear it come from you. Listen carefully to James 5:16, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (NLT). There is healing in confessing and admitting the sin and selfishness we have done and to the hurt that it has caused you and those in your life. It not only brings healing to you, but to healing to those you have hurt.

Jonah had told the crew that they should throw him overboard. They could not bring themselves to do that. This takes us to verse 13.

Verse 13

Instead of throwing Jonah overboard God’s Word says in verse 13, “However, the men rowed desperately to return to land, but they could not, because the sea was becoming even stormier against them.” Three things I want you to see here.

I want you to see compassion. The crew wanted to save Jonah, save the ship, and save their lives. There just had to be another way that wasn’t so drastic. They could have threw Jonah off the ship immediately, but they were showing concern and compassion.

I do think when people are running from God, you will have to show compassion. You are going to want to help. God’s Word says in Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind to one another” and “compassionate” (NASB). Then in Colossians 3:12 we are told to “put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (NASB). When you have someone who is running from God and causing problems, God wants you to be compassionate and humble with them. These sailors were more like God at the moment than Jonah was.

I want you to see determination. Notice the Bible says, the men rowed desperately to return to land. They were desperately trying to help the situation. They wanted to get to shore. They wanted to get to safety. They were probably thinking, “If we can get to shore then we can put Jonah onto solid ground and maybe everything will get better.” This is a perfect picture of people who try to help someone who is running from God. They keep helping and keep helping and keep helping and they desperately want to see the person back on solid ground. But I want you to see what happens.

I want you to see tough mercy. Even though these men were desperately rowing to land and trying to get to safety we are told they could not, because the sea was becoming even stormier against them. The more they rowed and the more they worked at trying to get Jonah to land the worse the storm became. No matter what they did, nothing seemed to work. Have you ever been trying to help someone who is running from God and no matter what you do or how hard you work at helping them, nothing seems to work?

The reason is they weren’t fighting the storm, they were fighting God. God brought the storm and Jonah needed to go through the storm. No matter what they tried, it was not going to work. The same is true for us, sometimes when we are helping people who are running from God we are resisting and fighting what God is actually doing in their life. Sometimes we have to let the storm of God have its way in the person’s life. That is so hard to do, but sometimes it is very necessary.

Conclusion

Jonah had been a prophet of God. He had heard from God, been used by God, spoke for God, and lived for God, BUT now he was running from God. He had gone astray. One of the most loving statements in the Bible that reflects God’s heart is Isaiah 53:6 which says, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.” What that means is we all have run from God and did things we regret. We disobeyed God. We ignored God. We indulged in sin and selfishness. We strayed from what God said and told us. But thank God for the last part of Isaiah 53:6, Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all (NLT). What that means is that our sin was given to Him. Our guilt and our shame and our selfishness was placed on Jesus so that we could be forgiven, cleansed, and redeemed!

The storm of God in Jonah’s life was a storm of mercy and love. It was a storm that was to pull back one of God’s straying sheep.