We read in Jonah 1:5-6, And the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him: 'What meanest thou that thou sleepest? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.' (JPS)
We as a church must realize that we are in a time, when the coming of Christ the bridegroom, to claim the church His bride is close at hand. All through the bible there are so many prophesies about the end times and most of these are being fulfilled, reminding us that the coming of the Lord is really near. This is therefore the time for us to be prepare ourselves, to receive the risen Lord in all His glory.
At this juncture, in the story of Jonah there was a tumultuous storm, and the entire crew were filled with dread. However, Jonah was oblivious to all of these calamities, and was fast asleep in the lower most part of the ship. The shipmaster who noticed this was confounded as to how someone could sleep through such a raging storm. The shipmaster must have been really upset to see such a sight that there was someone who was completely unconcerned about the terrible happenings on the ship, and could sleep through it all.
Woefully, the spiritual slumber of most believers, is truly a cause for wonder. Sleep is good for all of us, but it is a matter of concern if we do not know when we should sleep, and where we should be sleeping. I have observed some people in church, who will participate in the worship time enthusiastically, but when the word is preached they will go into deep sleep, and wake up once the sermon is over. I believe this is not a good sleep, because Satan is fully aware that if we know the Truth, the Truth will set us free and so he will do his best to bring a weakness over us which makes us sleep while the word is being shared.
A story is told of a man who was in such a slumber once during a service, and he was suddenly jolted out of his sleep. It seemed to him that the person next to him was standing up and so he immediately got up to his feet. When he stood up the entire congregation applauded him and he was totally confused, only later did he realize the reason for the applause. The pastor was thanking all those who agreed to donate the huge sum of money for the church building project. This man who was wide awake by now stood there, stunned and helpless. This may sound hilarious to us, but that is the consequence of unhealthy sleep.
Talking about this kind of apathetic sleep we can find some others in the bible experienced this too.
The sleep of weariness
We read in 1 Kings 19:5, And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. (KJV)
The prophet Elijah was a zealous prophet of the Lord. Elijah walked with God and wherever he went miracles followed. At one point when Elijah had won a great victory for the Lord at Mount Carmel and defeated the prophets of Baal, Queen Jezebel was so angered, that she issued a death threat to Elijah. Elijah was so depressed that he ran from Jezebel’s presence, and he told God that he could not handle this anymore. Elijah had come to the end of himself, and he even told God to take his life.
As Elijah lay under a juniper tree and slept, the angel of the Lord appeared to him and cheered him on to get up and eat. The Lord who saw the wearied prophet sent his angel, who stood in His presence, to aid and embolden the prophet.
There may be those of you who were vibrant and zealous for the Lord, serving Him fervently and walking with the Lord intimately. Maybe there were some circumstances, some Jezebel like people in your life, some challenges, fears that have overcome you so that you felt like giving up. The Lord encourages such that He will come to strengthen you, establish you for He is the one who called you and He is the faithful one. The same Lord who sent His angel to Elijah, is sending His word to awaken you out of your slumber and motivate you to move on. We will encounter those evil Jezebel like people and those Ahab’s who support the Jezebels, but we must be reminded that they are mere humans, and it is the Lord who called us to serve Him.
The God who called us is the maker of heaven and earth, so we need not fear those wicked people who scheme against us or grow wearied in our spirits. The Lord is a gentle and will not snuff out the smoldering wick, but will ignite it, and cause it to glow again for His glory. We can tell God when we feel exhausted and He understands. During the pandemic there are many leaders who have been so discouraged and wonder if this crisis will change, and there will be some sort of relief. Pray and ask the Lord, for He will surely change all these calamities, make us arise, be revived and shine forth for Him.
It is not enough for us to keep reminiscing about the past, and the ways we served, but consider all that we can do for the Lord right now. The Lord has promised to be with us until the very end of the world. Let us lay aside all our worries and serve the Lord, for we can be certain that the Lord will bless all our efforts, so that we can see mighty signs and wonders.
The sleep in the lap of pleasure
We read in Judges 16:19, And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
Here’s the story of another man who slept, his name was Samson. Samson was chosen by God, a man of great might, who caused fear and dread among the Philistines. When Samson forgot his calling and got diverted by the desires of his flesh, he was found sleeping in the lap of the enemy who would destroy him. God raised Samson to subdue the Philistines who were troubling the Israelites a great deal. When Samson forgot this call of God, he lost the anointing that was on him and his life which was glorious became one of abasement and disgrace.
Samson was a man who was so valiant and strong. The things that Samson accomplished were unheard of. His might brought jubilant deliverance to the Israelites who were subdued by the fierce Philistines. However, the area of weakness for Samson was his love for women. As Samson continued this lifestyle and landed up in a relationship with Delilah, he could not decipher that he was not in a love relationship, but in a death trap. Before, Samson could save himself from the clutches of Delilah, he was caught and imprisoned by the Philistines. It is most disheartening for us to read that this Samson who was chosen by God, lost his strength, his eye sight, was made to grind flour and became an object of scorn to the Philistines whom he was supposed to overpower.
This is also the reason why God has chosen each one of us. There are multitudes outside who are repressed by the enemy, who are suffering with incurable diseases and curses. The Lord wants us to be those who brings deliverance to them. Oftentimes, we forget the purpose of our calling and are so caught up like Samson in the pleasures of this world.
The life of Samson is one that cautions us to be watchful. The devil did not spare Jesus, but sought to tempt him, how more should we be on our guard. The enemy tempts us in the areas of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. These are his crafty schemes wherein he tries to let us divert from our call, our anointing and the vision that God has given to us. Nonetheless, to the ones who have sinned and are willing to confess and repent, the word of the Lord assures that the Lord is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The Lord is merciful and gracious and is ever ready to forgive us of all our sins. Whenever we fall into sin, the enemy will fill us with a sense of guilt, and make us believe his lie that we are of no worth and can do nothing anymore for the Lord. The word of God reminds us that our God is generous in forgiveness. No matter what we have done wrong, we can come to God and ask His pardon, and the precious blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross of Calvary is there for our cleansing and restoration.
When Samson was at his lowest, he prayed and begged God for mercy. We who live in this era of the New Covenant, can call on the Lord at any time and we will receive mercy and the Lord will take us to be His own children. We can come boldly to the throne of grace and beg Him for forgiveness and be sure that God will set us free and help us to be ablaze for Him again.
Peter was the beloved disciple of Jesus, but when Jesus was taken for trial, Peter denied that he knew Jesus thrice. It was only after he denied Jesus thrice did Peter remember that Jesus has already forewarned him of what was to come. We might think that all would be over for a person like Peter, but as the rooster crowed the Lord turned back and looked at Peter with His ever loving eyes. As Peter wept bitterly, his heart was broken as he had been with Jesus all through those glorious years of ministry and witnessed all the miraculous signs and wonders. Peter was restored by the Lord, and he remained a faithful disciple of Jesus till the very end of his life.
As Samson stood before the great Philistine assembly, his hands tied to the pillars of the temple, he begged God to have mercy on him. God gave Samson his strength again, and Samson destroyed more Philistines in his death, than he did in his entire life time.
God never forgets us, and He does not ever leave us. He gives us many chances to get back and be reconciled to Him. All of us as human beings will falter and fall in many ways, but we have a good Father God who is always willing to take us back and restore us. We need never doubt his goodness and mercies that He extends to us. That was the only reason Jesus gave His precious life for us and our sins on the cruel cross of Calvary.
The sleep of carelessness
We read in Matthew 13:25, That night, while everyone was asleep, the man's enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat and then left. (ERV)
One can refer to this sort of slumber as one of negligence. This was a parable that Jesus spoke about wherein, a man sowed wheat in his field and while they slept at night, the enemy came and planted weeds or tares. In this parable Jesus describes the kingdom of God as the good field where the good seeds are planted. The reason the owner of the field prepared it and planted seed was so he would have a fruitful harvest. However, while the men who were in charge were sleeping, the enemy came to ruin the field. The only aim of the enemy was to wreck the crops so that they do not yield a hearty harvest which would then be stored in the barns. The ones who were supposed to be alert were asleep, which gave the enemy the opportunity to slip in and plant the tares.
When the plants began to grow, initially there was not much difference between the wheat and the tares. It is only when they are fully grown the difference could be spotted. The damage that the weeds did to the wheat was that they sapped them of all their nutrition and weakened the wheat. The weeds were of no use, but were only there for harm. However, when this was brought to the notice of the owner, he counselled the workers to leave the plants as they were until they were fully grown. He decided to deal with the weeds at the time of the harvest, as the owner knew that pulling out the weeds at an earlier time could also affect the wheat and have some of the good plants uprooted by mistake.
Even today, there are churches that are challenged with so many problems. Those who appear to be believers are living lives that are not in keeping with what they profess, thereby, creating loads of issues in the church of God. We as children of God must guard the gardens that God has entrusted us with. If you are wondering what they are, here are a few; our heart, our family, the church and every place where God has placed us, and all of these have to be guarded with care. If we are careless, Satan will come and plant the weeds of destruction in our lives.
Jonah was shaken out of his slumber
We read in Jonah 1:6, So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him: 'What meanest thou that thou sleepest? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.' (JPS)
As Jonah slept unconcerned, the shipmaster had to come and shake him out of his sleep. Here’s what he said to Jonah, Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.' He was simply asking Jonah to pray and call on the God whom he believed in.
This is the call of God to the church today. We are called to pray. No one can change the cunning and schemes of the evil one, for he will always be our enemy. Nonetheless, God is asking us as a church to be alert and to pray together.
Paul says it this way in Ephesians 5:10-14, Try to learn what pleases the Lord. Have no part in the things that people in darkness do, which produce nothing good. Instead, tell everyone how wrong those things are. Actually, it is shameful to even talk about the things those people do in secret. But the light makes clear how wrong those things are. Yes, everything is made clear by the light. This is why we say, “Wake up, you who are sleeping! Rise from death, and Christ will shine on you.”(ERV)
The counsel of God to us is that we find out what pleases the Lord. Let us arise out of our slumber and decide to fulfill God’s purposes for our lives. We are also exhorted to have no part in any of the fruitless works of darkness, but rather to rebuke such behavior. Today people are not open for any sort of admonition in the church, but the Lord counsels us to admonish one another. There are things that are done in the dark that are shameful even to be talked about and the Lord exhorts that such deeds will someday be exposed and brought to light.
Therefore, we as a church are advised to wake up out of our slumber. This sleep is not an ordinary sleep, but likened to a dead man who is asleep in a mortuary or cemetery. Those of us who are alive are not to be asleep and lifeless like the dead, but are admonished to wake up and rise out of our slumber. When we do so, Christ will make us shine forth.
This is the time to wake up, arise, spend much time in prayer and always keeping in mind that the enemy is also working really hard to destroy us. If we as a church unite and pray, the Lord will be gracious to us, will revive the church and grant us the needed grace and protection for us as members of the body of Christ. John’s gospel tells us that those in darkness saw a great light when Jesus came, and that same light will shine on us, so that we will be those who will shine to serve others, be compassionate to others, speak up for others and pray for others which is God’s will for us. Let us not continue in our weariness, earthly pleasures or carelessness, but wake up and live our lives as unto the Lord.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
