The lamp is still burning as the prophet goes to the door to make sure no one was looking.  He closes the door.  He’s afraid, very afraid.  He seems to get a chill up his spine when he realizes what God has called him to do.  He’s called him to die.  How could God call him to go to such a town that was to-the-bone a blood thirsty one.  In fact, the city was called ‘the city of blood’ and the capital of its own nation.  They were hated not just by his nation, but surely by his God.  He paced the room, and found the option before him… to go and possibly die by this town or to stay in security and hide from God.  He finally made his decision.  By the next morning, the prophet awoke and booked a pricey ride to travel via sea in the direction he set travel towards.  The prophet was nervous, but who wouldn’t be.  He went aboard and set for sea… in the opposite direction of where the Lord called him.  Jonah chose neither to go or stay in the city, he chose to run.  Shortly after, the storm broke.

When we go our own way, things happen, storms break.  Not just that, but our boy had to purchase the fare aboard the ship.  Not a cheap ticket by any means, but it’s a known occurrence that if you’re in the Lord’s will, He won’t just help you get things in order, but He’ll always pick up the tab.  It may not be apparent at first, but this one was coming out of Jonah’s pocket.  Not to mention money, but Jones had to travel almost five times the distance in the clear opposite direction.  Sound like something you would do?  That’s right, Jonah only had to travel 500 miles to get to Nineveh, but chose to instead travel 2,500 miles.  Not only did he go out of his way to run way, but in order to return back to what he knew the Lord called him to do, he would need to travel the 2,500 miles BACK just to get back on the right track, not to mention the additional 500 miles to get back to where God originally called him to go. 

The storm broke on the ship and the sailors aboard began to panic (v5) by throwing their cargo over-board.  That’s pretty important because that cargo was the only way they we’re getting paid for that trip.  This was a wasted trip now, thanks to Jonah.  When Jonah stepped out of the Lord’s will, it affected everyone around him… this happens the same in our lives when we step out of what we know the Lord is calling us to do… a storm breaks out and affects everyone around us.  Jonah was selfish and defiant, but it says that he was even sound asleep on the trip (v5), like there was no care in the world… but in verse 6, we see the sailors waking him up to pray to his God (there was no way the Lord was going to let him sleep through this)… mind you, these were pagan sailers because it mentions earlier that they were praying to their own gods… they knew some supernatural force was against them.

We can beat this in the ground, but you’ve heard this story before… However, the truth remains, when you are outside of His will, expect to pay the tab, go through unneeded circumstances and endure unnecessary troublesome storms around you.  Just be careful that you’re not sleeping like Jonah was and just miss it altogether.  You may just be on mile 2,000 and the sky is still blue or storms are rocking the boat, but you’re sound asleep.  God will use anything to remind you or even to wake you up, but remember.. the Lord desires to see you in His presence.  He loves you too much to let you go the wrong way.  If He needs to flip your boat, He will… There are way too many folks, including myself, just defiantly going the wrong way (and it’s painfully obvious)… but my prayer isn’t that boats are rocked, but that decisions are wisely made.