What is most frightening is that Jonah makes a willful choice to leave God's presence. In verse 3, Jonah rose up to flee from being in the presence of the Lord. What is Jonah's reason for making a choice to run from God? Why do most people not answer God's calling or commands? Is it because of fear? Fear of men? Fear of responsibility? Could it be that we may be running from the promises we have made to God because they may have made them during desperation and not meant it?
God has taught me an important lesson about people. Before Moses died, God told him that His people will play the harlot going after strange gods in the promise land and will forsake the Lord. When people are in desperate situations, they tend to cry out to God for help. In their desperate mode, people will make promises to God. Desperate situations are but really a blessing. They are moments in time in which our spirits are alive seeking and calling out for the Most High. But sadly, for many people, as God gives us relief, they have a typical attitude. The attitude is, "Thanks God but I can take it from here now!" This is how people react once God gives relief or help. They make a willful choice to leave His presence and continue on their original road.
Deuteronomy 31:16-18 (AMP) 16And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers, and this people will rise up and play the harlot after the strange gods of the land where they go to be among them; and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.17 Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them. And they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?18And I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done in turning to other gods.
Such people may still go to church and say they believe in God and are saved. However, their lives may be in chaos. And in this chaos, who do most Christians blame? They blame the devil for stealing, killing, and destroying their lives. If the devil has done anything to us, it is because we have allowed it through our SIN.
But you see, when we run from God or run from the job or life that He has ordered for us, IT IS HIM WHO SENDS SUCH STORM IN OUR LIVES! Verse 4 of Jonah chapter 1 states that it was the Lord who sent the great wind upon the sea in which the violent tempest on the sea was braking up the ship. If our lives are being broken up, could it be because the Lord has sent a storm against us because we are running away from HIS WILL? In Deuteronomy chapter 31 above, when we rise up to play the harlot, God's anger will be kindled against us, He will forsake us hiding His face and many evils and troubles will befall us (verses 17-18 in Deut 31). Such storms may be from HIM when we run from His Will or as we play the harlot running to other gods.
Jonah 1:4 (AMP) But the Lord sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a violent tempest on the sea so that the ship was about to be broken.
Such people whose lives are falling apart may seek other brethren or people to pray for them. These people may not know the root problem but they may in error be praying against the will of God. God may not be seeking to help the person from that particular situation but desiring the person to repent, fully surrender, and submit to the Will of God. We must have the discernment to know why some people's lives are in chaos. We must learn to pray properly and sometimes leave them to the Lord. Otherwise, we may be fighting God's Will!
After the crew on the ship had cast lots, they had determined Jonah was the reason for the storm. Jonah told them he had run from the presence of the Lord (verse 10).
Jonah 1:7-15 (AMP) And they each said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8Then they said to him, Tell us, we pray you, on whose account has this evil come upon us? What is your occupation? Where did you come from? And what is your country and nationality?9And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I [reverently] fear and worship the Lord, the God of heaven, Who made the sea and the dry land.10Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, What is this that you have done? For the men knew that he fled from being in the presence of the Lord [as His prophet and servant], because he had told them.11Then they said to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea may subside and be calm for us? For the sea became more and more [violently] tempestuous.12And [Jonah] said to them, Take me up and cast me into the sea; so shall the sea become calm for you, for I know that it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.13Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship to the land, but they could not, for the sea became more and more violent against them.14Therefore they cried to the Lord, We beseech You, O Lord, we beseech You, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.15So they took up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
When they had questioned Jonah, in verse 9 he said that he was a Hebrew who fears and worships the Lord of heaven. This is equivalent of someone today saying he/she is a saved Christian who believes and has faith. Yet, Jonah's action was contrary to what he was saying.
Even after knowing the truth, the crew attempted to save themselves including Jonah by attempting to row back to land (verse 13) but the sea became more violent. And only after they had cast Jonah into the sea, the sea had ceased form raging. When we know our brethren is running from God and we attempt to support them in such ways, then we will be praying and/or our actions will be going against the Will of God and we will participate in the storm of that person as he/she runs from God. We must discern properly as we pray for people. Many people ask for prayer for this or that because they may be in desperate situations. But perhaps, God has sent the storm to get their attention. Therefore, we must pray for them to receive an obedient and repentant heart instead of praying for them to get out of their situation. For if we are praying for them to get out of a certain situation for the sake of their comfort, then we may actually be praying against the Will of God thus experiencing their storm against us.
If we follow misleading ministries or false prophecy that are going against the Will of God then we will end up in their storms as well. We must be willing to cast such things over board and out from among us.
As people feel they are in a dark belly of a whale, they may cry out for help but they will not be delivered until they give homage to the Lord and submit to the Lordship of their King of Kings. If one continues to complain of what he/she perceives to be a bad situation, then all he/she is doing is complaining and murmuring against God who may had been the one who had put that person in such a wilderness.
The only way out of a dark situation is through sacrifices of thanksgiving and do as Jonah had, he said that he will fulfill his vow. We may through our choice try to forget the promises we had made to God. We may through our choice try to forget the promises our parents had made to God for our lives. However, God will at the end come to COLLECT!
If you feel you are in a dark belly, the only way out is through sacrifices of thanksgiving and submitting to His Will.
Jonah 2:9-10 (AMP) But as for me, I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation and deliverance belong to the Lord! 10And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Fire of God
Steve Yong Kim
March 25, 2012
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