Reasons Why You Experience The Evil Storms Of Chaos
Jonah is a picture of how NOT to live out a life of a Jesus follower. However, in spite of all of Jonah's mistakes, we are left with a cord of hope. Chaos. Consequences. God provides.
When developing a strategy to attract more readers to a weekly newsletter about knowing and hearing God, obedience/disobedience is not the best plan. Yet, here I am. You must be obedient to hear God consistently and know him.
In contrast, I have difficulty hearing God and discerning his voice when I disobey God. But disobedience goes far beyond just hearing or not hearing God.
Enter Jonah
Jonah is one of the more recognizable Bible stories among church and non-church people. A man being swallowed by a giant fish (commonly thought of as a whale) is a memorable story. However, as I studied this story a little deeper, l learned Jonah is much more than a man being swallowed by a fish. I learned facts like the book of Jonah is the second mention of Jonah in the Bible. I realized the entire book is meant as satire (in the sense of up being down and down being up). I visualized the path Jonah was supposed to take to Ninevah but took to Tarshish.
But the biggest realization is Jonah is all about obedience and disobedience to God’s call.
One truth Jonah uncovers is that obeying God is hard.
The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. -Jonah 1:1-3
The text doesn’t tell us why Jonah ran (at least at this point in the story), but the call was so scary, challenging, and daunting that Jonah took a boat 2500 miles in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to go (see the map below). At the time of Jonah, Tarshish was the furthest known port in the world from where he lived in Israel. That’s an intense reaction to God’s call.
Let me stop for a moment and talk about the call of God. When we hear the term “call of God,” we tend to think of the long-term purpose of our lives. This is a part of what the call of God means, but that doesn’t encompass the whole concept. I would define the call of God as the things, big and small, we deep down know we are supposed to do. Usually, that call is accompanied by an equal something that pushes us to ignore that feeling.
God called Jonah to Nineveh, but there was an equal response to run from that call. Jonah runs.
I recently shared the story of sitting in a coffee shop and witnessing the kindness of two teenage girls for an older woman in need. As I watched their compassion, I felt I was supposed to thank them by giving them a small monetary gift. At the same time, I internally wrestled with obeying the call of God.
Big or small, the call of God is hard to obey.
Last week, I shared the benefits of obeying what God calls us to do. The rewards for obedience are both beautiful and empowering. I encourage you to read that post for more, but a few of the benefits of obedience are nourishment, being in the light, planting seeds of righteousness and blessing, and generating change. But just like obedience generates power, disobedience creates chaos and consequences.
Another truth Jonah uncovers is disobedience creates chaos and consequences.
1. Chaos.
But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. -Jonah 1:4
Again, this is not the best way to grow an email list. We don’t like bad news. When Jonah ran from God, it created chaos. I wonder about the storms you are facing. How many of these are from your disobedience?
Now, I want to be careful. It’s a gross generalization to say that any storm or chaos you experience is because of your disobedience, but there is no doubt some of the chaos you feel is because of disobeying God.
We tend to think of God as the one who calms the storms, but he also causes storms. He oversees the heavens, the earth, and the human heart so he can calm and create storms. His purpose in all of this is to draw us closer to him, but he also allows us to choose to walk toward or away from him. If we walk away, it creates chaos in our lives and in the lives of others, too.
Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) -Jonah 1:7-10
The storm threatened Jonah and the whole crew (and who knows how many other ships were at sea that day). This explains why we may feel chaos in times of our obedience. We often deal with storms created by other people’s disobedience, which means others have to deal with the chaos we make when we run from God. This is a sobering thought.
My parents divorced when I was three because my dad fell in love with another woman. His decision created chaos in my parents' marriage and our entire family. It spread to my relationships. I’m sure there are decisions and actions I still make because of the chaos created in my life at three.
It’s more than just chaos. The consequences of disobedience are more significant than rough storms.
2. Consequences.
The shortest and most precise way to describe the results of disobedience is this: death.
Jonah disobeyed God's call, which was sin. Jonah sinned against God, and sin always leads to death.
The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.
-Jonah 1:11-16
Death was the price Jonah paid for his disobedience, and death is required for our sins, too. It is usually not as stark or timely as what Jonah experienced. We see it play out slowly, so the Apostle Paul compared it to watching a plant grow.
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
-Galatians 6:7
What we plant, we harvest. This is true for the good things we plant in our lives, and it is true for the negative stuff we plant. Jonah couldn’t outrun the hand of God, including the consequences of his sin, which should have been the end of the story.
The final truth of Jonah is the Lord provides!
Jonah should have drowned. The story shouldn’t have made it into the canon of Scripture. But God…
Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. -Jonah 1:17
God provided a way of escape. Jonah should be dead, but God gave him another chance, and we see in the following two chapters how Jonah takes God up on this new opportunity. What a beautiful end to this chapter. Being trapped in the belly of a fish may not seem attractive, but it is better than death. God provided hope for Jonah, and he does the same for you and me.
Despite the chaos we create for ourselves and the world around us, and even though our sins have consequences, God provides hope. It begins with Jesus. He took the ultimate consequence in place of us, and he calms the chaos of our disobedience.
In the book of Matthew, there is a story eerily similar to this chapter of Jonah.
Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.
-Matthew 8:23-26
Jesus is the better Jonah.
Asleep in the boat, Jesus isn’t on the run from God. No, he is in the center of God’s will.
When the disciples cry out to him for help, they aren’t calling to one who just serves the Creator of the heavens and the earth; they are calling to the One who created all things.
Jesus is the better Jonah, and if we step back into his will—to obey- he will calm the chaos in our hearts and minds.
Antiheroes
In literary terms, Jonah is the antihero in this story. This means Jonah lacks the typical hero qualities of idealism or courage and doesn’t exhibit a high moral code. The purpose of the antihero is to prompt the reader to ask, “Why?”
Jonah is shown as an antihero because we are also antiheroes in our own stories. We, at times, lack idealism and courage. We don’t always show the highest morals. We are flawed.
We disobey, so we need a savior—a true hero—who is always courageous and honest. We need Jesus.
I want to end by thanking a handful of new newsletter subscribers and a new supporter (thank you, J+J!). I appreciate everyone who shared last week’s post; I am grateful for your generosity. -Andy