Jonah 1 Following Jesus When You’d Rather Run AwaySample

Stiller of the Sea; Stirrer of the Storm

Our God is a God who can calm the raging seas in just one moment. We read in Luke 8 how the winds and waters of a storm obey Jesus and become still. We also read in Jonah how God stirs up a storm. Why would He do that?

Let’s take a few moments to reframe how we see storms today. Sometimes, it is God’s great grace to you to shake up your life a bit.

Did you catch that in our passage today? God is the one who sent the storm. In pursuit of Jonah. Oftentimes the storms in our lives aren't God's neglect of us, but rather His passionate pursuit of us. The pain the storm causes is not God’s way of paying us back, but rather of bringing us back to Him.

• Can you imagine a time in your life where God has shaken things up to throw you off course when you tried to do things your own way?
• What raging seas in your life has God faithfully calmed?
• What storms has He graciously stirred up to bring you back to Him?

When the chaos comes, create the habit of asking yourself, “Am I running? Is this storm the result of my sin? Is God trying to get my attention?”

Challenge: During the chaos of the storm, the boat crew threw the cargo into the ocean to lighten their load. Sometimes when life gets chaotic, we need to lighten our load. What is something that you need to stop doing or do less of today so that you can focus more on Jesus?