Stop! You’re going the wrong way…

This week’s blog came to me when I was on my flight back to San Antonio from visiting my family in Las Vegas. The story of Jonah kept coming to mind. For those of you who do not know the story of Jonah, let me give you a hint; whale!
Yup! You may have guessed it; this is the story of the man that was swallowed by the whale. So, here I am on the plane with my tray down, my Bible out, and a notebook in hand. I am ready to hear what the Lord has to say to me.
In the first verse of chapter one the Lord gives Jonah a command. The Lord tells Jonah “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgement against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” (NLT) God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach to them. He wanted him to preach against their wickedness and tell them that if they do not turn from their wicked ways the Lord would destroy the land.
What does Jonah do next? He flees and jumps on a ship going the opposite direction from Nineveh. I don’t know about you, but I know I have done this plenty of times. The Lord tells me to do one thing, and what do I do? I do what Jonah did, the exact opposite.
Jonah is probably thinking he got away from God. He thought he could just leave, head in the other direction and not have to deal with the wicked nation. In verse 4, it says “But, God sent a huge storm at sea, the waves towering. The ship was about to break into pieces.” (MSG) At this point, tears are swelling up in my eyes, because I know this has been me. I have tried to run from God, run from problems and issues thinking that if I just run the other direction it will all go away.
Life doesn’t always work that way. When we do not listen to God and we do as our flesh wants, God will send a storm to get our attention. Now scripture doesn’t say he sent a little bitty storm. It says he sent a HUGE storm. God sometimes has to send us huge storms to get our attention. We sometimes justify little storms as a bad day and not look at them as warning signs from God.
Jonah was taking a nap when the storm hit. I don’t know about you, but when I get depressed, I try to sleep my days away hoping the next day or the day after that will be better. Many of us are stubborn and will try to ignore the “little” signs that God is sending us. Then all of a sudden; BAMMM! The HUGE storm hits, our eyes are wide open, the ship is about to break and now we find ourselves praying to God asking him to stop the storm.
Now the Lord has our attention. Now we find ourselves praying. Now we find ourselves in church. Now we find ourselves at the altar asking God to stop the storms in our life. Think about it.. All of this could have been avoided if Jonah (we) listened to God and said yes, I’ll do what you ask of me.
God may be asking you to turn around and give up a relationship, a job, or even some friends that are taking you down the wrong path. Either way, it’s not the way that the Lord wants you to go. He wants you to go the opposite direction then where they are leading you to go.
Trust me, I know what it’s like to hold onto something so tight, because it was the thing that “I” wanted. This thing was sending me in the opposite direction. It wasn’t the thing that the Lord wanted for my life. So, what did the Lord do? You guessed it… He sent a HUGE storm to get my attention, because I was ignoring all the little storms. My flesh and my stubbornness caused my storm, but it was God’s grace who kept me alive.
The story goes on and the sailors throw Jonah over into the raging sea to stop the storm and that’s when a huge fish (whale) swallows him. He stays in the whale’s belly for three days and three nights. During the three days in the belly, Jonah cried out to God, he thanked God, and he even made a vow to keep his promises to God. The Lord heard Jonah, and commanded the whale to spit out Jonah onto dry land.
It is during these huge storms in our lives that we seek God and ask God to fix it. It is during these times that we reflect back on how the Lord has kept us. It is during these times that God shows us His love for us. Even in our stubbornness to do the exact opposite of what God told us to do somehow He still manages to forgive us and show us His love and grace.
Chapter 3 starts with “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time; Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you. So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command.” (HCSB)
Just as God spoke to Jonah reminding him of his purpose, God will do this for us. Even though we are in the storm and stuck in the whale’s belly with nowhere to go, we still have a purpose. We can still get our focus back. The storms that God sends our way are His reminder to us that He still has a plan for our life.
It was during my storm where the Lord reminded me of my purpose. He told me “Get up! I have people I need you to help.” It was through this huge storm that I got my focus back and Braveheart was launched. And… here I am to remind you that even though you may be going the wrong direction and you may be in the middle of your storm, guess what?! You still have PURPOSE! God still has a PLAN for your life!
Jonah’s prayer in the belly of the whale
2:1-9 “Then Jonah prayed to his God from the belly of the fish. He prayed: “In trouble, deep trouble, I prayed to God. He answered me. From the belly of the grave I cried, ‘Help!’ You heard my cry. You threw me into ocean’s depths, into a watery grave, With ocean waves, ocean breakers crashing over me. I said, ‘I’ve been thrown away, thrown out, out of your sight. I’ll never again lay eyes on your Holy Temple.’ Ocean gripped me by the throat. The ancient Abyss grabbed me and held tight. My head was all tangled in seaweed at the bottom of the sea where the mountains take root. I was as far down as a body can go, and the gates were slamming shut behind me forever—Yet you pulled me up from that grave alive, O God, my God! When my life was slipping away, I remembered God, And my prayer got through to you, made it all the way to your Holy Temple. Those who worship hollow gods, god-frauds, walk away from their only true love. But I’m worshiping you, God, calling out in thanksgiving! And I’ll do what I promised I’d do! Salvation belongs to God!” (MSG)