Where Hope Begins

The LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest… so that the ship threatened to break up.

Jonah 1:4

Notice, it was God who sent the storm. In Jonah’s life, the storm was an intervention to save him from a life wasted in disobedience. At the same time, God was stepping in to redeem the ship’s crew who knew nothing about Him. Even God’s judgements are a means of His mercy.

Each crew member “cried out to his god” (1:5). A lot of “gods” were being asked to help, but it wasn’t making any difference. So, the captain said to Jonah, “Call out to your god… that we may not perish” (1:6). He was saying, “Our gods haven’t done anything—why don’t you try yours!”

But the problem was that Jonah could not pray. How can you pray to God when you are actively disobeying His word? Christians running from God are of no use to lost people in a storm. Maybe you can see yourself in Jonah here.

Jonah was the only one who knew God, but he was immobilised by sin. So God exposed Jonah’s sin in an unusual way: The sailors cast lots to learn “on whose account this evil has come upon us… and the lot fell on Jonah” (1:7).

If God exposes your sin, it is because He loves you (Heb. 12:6). When God exposed Jonah’s sin, it was the beginning of hope for Jonah and for the entire crew.

Jonah told them about the God of the Bible. When the crew got a glimpse of Him, they said, “What shall we do?” (Jon. 1:11). How can we pacify God’s anger? That is the single most important question in the Bible. If God is against us, we have no hope. What can we do?

How have you seen God’s mercy and His loving hand at work even in your fiercest storms?