Twisted…or Playing Twister? Games Series: 1 Series

Do you ever feel this way? Ready to throw your hands up and say, “Lord, take me home now.”? It’s a normal feeling when things are so out of whack in our lives much like Jonah is going through. But don’t we do it to ourselves? Don’t we make the decision to stop following God and instead follow our own way of thinking? Don’t we make the decision to ignore God and listen to our own heart and our own feelings? Don’t we make the decision to allow our lives to become so twisted that it would take a miracle to get us back to normal? But what do we do about it?

B. Jonah hits the water

The crew responds (probably with much pondering on Jonahs idea) by trying to row the ship one more time. I am not sure why this is. Most Bible scholars are not sure either. Maybe it was because they simply did not want to kill a man, which is the reason for their prayer before throwing Jonah overboard. Maybe it was because they thought he was crazy for coming up with such an unrealistic idea. I mean who would believe that a massive sea storm would calm after you through someone into the water? That’s just plain crazy talk! Or maybe it was because the storm began to calm as Jonah was admitting his wrong doings and the crew thought they could row through it at that breaking moment. But we know what happens. The storm becomes even fiercer! So the crew prays (who wouldn’t at a time like this) to Jonah’s God, not their own like they were doing before. Then one comes to Jonah from behind and grabs under his arms and a couple others grab his feet. And it’s a one, two, three swing before he is off into the sea. He did not jump off, but he was thrown. The storm calms and Jonah is gone. Jonah may have been thinking at this very moment that he still won. He was going to drown; therefore God’s message to the Ninevites will not be heard by him. Is this how you think of your life? Do you think that if you keep running from God’s Word for so long that He will stop calling? That’s what Jonah could have been thinking. We aren’t truly sure.

Conclusion:

All we know is that Jonah tried aborting God’s Word. Jonah tried Ignoring God’s Word. Jonah seemed to have tried ending God’s Word. You might be trying to do the same things in your life. You might be the one aborting God. You might be ignoring God. Or maybe you are the one under water even right now thinking that you have ended God’s plan for your life. You think you’re out of God’s thoughts just because you aborted, ignored and tried to end God’s Word? Look around while you are holding your breath. Do you notice the water starting to move again? Look closer. Can you see it? Focus your eyes it’s God! And this time He has got you right where He wants you, live bait for His big fish!