Rowing against the waves
Jonah 1:13-16 “13Instead the sailors
tried even harder to row the boat ashore.
But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t
make it. 14Then
they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God.
“O
Lord,”
they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this
man’s
sin. And don’t
hold us responsible for his death, because it isn’t our fault. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for
your own good reasons.” 15Then
the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the stormed
stopped at once! 16The
sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a
sacrifice and vowed to serve him.”NLT
There are so many
messages in these four verves that I could preach on them for a week; verse 13-
the power of God, verse 14- the plea of the humbled and frightened sinner,
verse 15- the majesty of God, verse 16- the spiritual awakening, and then there
is- God using one persons disobedience to bring others
to salvation. But I want to look at all
four verses together and put them in perspective to our daily lives. How many times do we try to row our boat one direction and God’s mighty power is holding us back because
He knows what’s best for us
or maybe what danger is around the corner that we are not aware of? How many times do we plea with God, “O Lord, I’m doing my part, I’m
rowing as hard as I can, now I beg you to do your part.” (By the way, where did the saying, “God helps those who help themselves” ever come from? I can’t
find it in my Bible.) How many times
when we are trying to row our boat from point a to point b and the storm is carrying us from point a to
point c, do we recognize that God is still on the throne and still in
control? I challenge you to take a look
at the direction you are trying to go in life, the goals you have set. Have you sought God’s will and asked for his direction? If it seems like you are being pulled a
different direction, maybe that is God
intervening. How many times when God
answers our prayers or does a miracle, do we not recognize it and take it for
granite? How many times when God brings
us through the storm and causes the waves to cease, do we say “God, thank you for being in control, I
offer all I have and all I am to You because You are
my God” and then go through
with it? I heard a preacher give an
illustration once of a man who fell overboard at sea and cried out to God, “Please save me I’m drowning. If you help me God, I will serve you
always. I will go to church every
Sunday. I will give 10% of all I have to
the poor. I will not cuss or drink
anymore.” About that time he realized that the whole
time he was pleading with God, the waves had carried him very close to
shore. So he yelled out, “never mind God, I don’t need your help after all”. That sounds funny, but take a good look at your life, do you
ever have times when you’re
being carried to shore and think it is just by chance?