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God had called His servant, Jonah, and commissioned him to go and preach His Word in Nineveh, but Jonah proved to be so very reluctant to obey. Instead of obeying, he ran away. Only to discover that he was running headlong into a lot of trouble.

The more Jonah struggled to get away from God, the greater the trouble, and the greater the turbulence that at swirled around him. The result was, as this first chapter of Jonah tells us, not only Jonah, but everyone on the ship, was threatened by that violent and turbulent storm.

But the majority of people today do not believe that. A lot of professing Christians, today, do not believe that. But it is true. Jonah found out just how true it was, and is. In addition to this warning, there is so much that is exciting as well as challenging that we can learn from Jonah I: 11 - 17.

is so graphically described in the eleventh verse. Jonah had identified himself as the cause of the trouble. He had admitted that he was running away from God because he was being willfully disobedient to the Word of God.

In the face of this confession, plus the evidence of the incredible storm, it is not hard to understand why the sailors were most anxious and greatly perplexed.

So they asked Jonah, the man of God, what they should do with him. They had absolutely no idea as to how to respond.

To them it was a shocking truth, Jonah was being openly disobedient to God. He was defiantly running away from God. Yet he was still the only one there who knew the Lord. This fact is so very significant.

They had no choice but to throw the onus back onto him because he was still the only one who could explain God's will. He was the only one who knew God's Word. Who understood God's purpose in these awesome circumstances!

This is still the way it is today. When Christians choose to turn a deaf ear in a rebellious attitude to the call and challenge of the Lord to share the Gospel with every person, we see the same pattern

We are still the only ones who can shall the Gospel with those who need to hear. Even as we are the only ones who know how to discover God's will when we have forced Him to respond to our disobedience in chastisement.

The sailors were in a desperate situation. All around them the storm raged on furiously. The waves constantly lashing at the boat. Danger, disaster, death all appeared to be so ominously threatening, poised, ready to pounce on them and pound them into nothingness!

What were they to do? Where were they to turn? How could they find an answer? Jonah's disobedience did not release him from his responsibility to those men, especially at this critical moment.

Even though we are guilty of having failed God, and His hand of reproof presses down in correction on us, remember we are still charged with the responsibility of witnessing to God's answer to the desperate needs of our world today.

There are some people appear to think that their disobedience has released them from their responsibility, at least, temporarily. It does not!

If Jonah's disobedience did not release him from his responsibility, and it did not, then we dare no attempt to turn a deaf ear either to the challenge arising from the need of others, or from the call of God.

We dare not pretend that the ominous threat which is hanging over others around us is not our problem! It is our problem! God has made it our problem!

Any attempt we made to try to evade this reality means that inevitably we will be held accountable for our willful failure at all of these points. Held accountable by God Himself.

When we attempt to carelessly, or willfully disobey the command and commission of God, we are not evading our responsibility. We are in fact intensifying it. Even as. we are intensifying our accountability to God!

Jonah's response was so direct: "Take me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you."

At last, Jonah was accepting full responsibility for the situation. Even as he accepted full responsibility for the fact that the lives of everyone around him were put in serious jeopardy because of his disobedience.

No longer was he trying to avoid or evade his responsibility. No longer was he willing to let the blame or consequences fall on someone else. He confessed, "I am the guilty party'"

Even if it was a little late in coming, that was an encouraging demonstration of some maturity in accepting responsibility for his actions.

Many people today, even Christians, lack such maturity. When they are challenged directly and decisively they still attempt to pass the buck. "Somebody else must be at fault. Somebody else must be responsible." But that was not the attitude of Jonah.

He acknowledged his responsibility, and so he said, "Because I am responsible, the only way you can be saved, the only way you can be delivered from this terrible storm, is as you throw me into the sea."

At last Jonah saw and acknowledged that what was happening could only be the hand of God reaching out in reproof and correction. In humility he submitted, and said, "Let me, and only me, feel the full weight of the correction of the hand of God. Then the trouble will all be over, and the sea will be calm for you. You will be safe."

What a challenge this is to us! We need to remember that others may well be, in fact are, in real danger. They may be enduring all kinds of problems and perplexities. Not so much because of their own actions, but because we, as the people of God, are failing in our responsibilities.

When we do accept our responsibilities before God, it will make a vital difference to others around us.

But the sailors were not willing to accept this suggestion which Jonah made. In verse thirteen we read, ”The men rowed hard," in their urgent attempts to try and bring the ship to land. They took one look at that raging sea and all its violent turbulence, and they knew that Jonah's suggestion involved inevitable death for him. There was no way that he could survive. They could not bring themselves to the point where they were willing to sacrifice his life to save their own!

What a vitally significant contrast! In his disobedience, he was willing to put their lives in jeopardy so as to get away from the command of God. Yet these very men, who did not know the Lord, did not know His Word, did not know and had not experienced His grace, they were not willing to sacrifice his life to save themselves!

What a significant challenge this is to all God's people! A challenge which confronts us in such a deep and searching way with our responsibility.

Whenever we get careless it is always at a great cost to others. So many of whom are quite godless. Yet in many instances they show more concern and compassion for others than we do.

These men were not willing to sacrifice Jonah to save themselves, So they did what they could. They threw their entire energy into the task of attempting to row that ship to shore. They strained themselves to their last resource of strength. But it was all in vain. Totally in vain. They were working against the hand of God.

The more they strained against the almighty hand of God, the more severe the turbulence around them became. Their very best efforts only made the situation worse.

When God deals with His people in reproof and correction, there is only one way to respond: God's way! The only answer was for the disobedient servant to submit to the sovereign authority of God.

That was the only way then, and it still is the only way to deal with all of the problems which are caused by our disobedience and our carelessness.

What a perplexing situation to be in! These men, who did not know God, were faced with the inescapable necessity of throwing the prophet of the Lord, into the raging sea. This was the only possible answer by which their lives could be saved!

This is immediately followed by another interesting development as far as this incident is concerned.

Their deep concern is so clearly expressed in verse 14. They had done their very best. They had rowed hard and urgently. They had totally exhausted all their resources. Yet it was all in vain.

Now, in utter desperation they prayed! They cried to the Lord. There was a lot which these people did not understand about God. There was so much about His dealings with His people that they could not comprehend. Yet, even though they were so ignorant, they were completely sincere as they sought the face of the Lord.

That is an interesting contrast. Their urgency! Their desperation in prayer! It was the direct result of the failure of the man of God to pray!

In their prayer, their cry to God was for grace and mercy. They knew they needed that, though there was so much else which they did not understand.

The confusing perplexity of this incident was so greatly magnified by the presence of the disobedient servant of the Lord.

It will always be that way whenever God's people fail to be faithful to their responsibilities. We cannot escape from that reality. Disobedience always causes confusion and complexity, not only to those who love the Lord, but particularly to those who do not know Him.

So, motivated by a sense of great urgency, these sailors prayed to God. They pleaded for His mercy and His forgiveness.

Having heard what Jonah said, "You throw me overboard, and then the sea will be calm for you." they believed that to do so would be nothing short of murder. There was no way he could survive in the storm driven violently turbulent waves of the ocean. They felt it would be nothing short of murder.

They did not want the Lord to hold them guilty of that sort of crime. Yet they did not know what else to do, or where else to turn.

In their desperation they pleaded with God to extend mercy and forgive them. The wonderful thing is that, those men, as they came in such genuinely urgent prayer to God, found in a most exciting and wonderful way that God heard and answered their prayer.

These mariners had been backed into a corner. On the one hand by the disobedience of the prophet. On the other, by the correcting hand of God. They could see no alternative than to do exactly what Jonah told them to do. So, they threw him overboard. They threw him out into the full fury of : what?

It is true, he landed in the ocean. Yet: it is more true that he landed in God's hands. He landed right in the center of God's loving, gracious correction and reproof.

Look at this: the man of God fell into the hands of God where his attitude to God was now one of humble submission and acceptance of the patient and loving correction of God.

What a tremendous truth this is! When we, by our rebellion and disobedience, compel God to move in severe correction, in the very moment that we submit we discover that we are lying in the gracious security of His strong yet tender hands.

Oh, yes, still under His correction, subject to His reproof. But we are also surrounded by His loving grace and mercy. How much better never to run from God than to force Him to act in correction and reproof. How much better always to be content to be living in the center of His will, subject to the fullness of His love, grace and mercy!

As soon as that point was reached, as soon as there was absolutely nothing between the servant of the Lord and the Lord Himself, as soon as the servant of the Lord was submissively yielded to the correcting hand of God: there was a great calm!

The storm was over! Its fury was fully abated! An amazing peace settled on that sea which but an instant before was so furiously convulsed by the wild winds, the agitated waves, and the extreme turbulence.

What made the difference? That moment when the servant of the Lord humbly, completely, even if reluctantly, submitted to the sovereignty of God, and allowed himself to be placed back in the hands of God.

It made all the difference to Jonah. Even as it made all the difference to all of those other people on the ship. People whose lives had been placed in such great danger by his disobedience.

There is something else to notice here, too. Those sailors paid very careful attention of what had happened. This meant that there were wonderful consequences in their lives.

In those words there are three expressions of personal response to the presence, the power, and the sufficiency of God.

They responded in even deeper reverence for and sincere worship of God. This incident had brought them to the place where they were personally introduced to the Lord in the most dramatic way. They humbled themselves before Him, as they worshipped Him in adoration and praise.

Not only that, for having been made conscious of their need, they offered a sacrifice as they sought to make atonement for their sin. They did all this in a desire to personally experience the full pardon of God. They were seeking the personal assurance that the Lord accepted them and their offering.

Also, they made a commitment to the Lord, pledging themselves to serve Him and honor Him in their lives.

These were three very exciting developments. But what were these developments dependent on? All this took place when the servant of the Lord was willing to get right back into the center of God's will and obey Him. And, only then!

All around us are people who are seeking answers to the troubling, perplexing situations which confront them. In many cases they are people who are looking for a genuine experience in which they can know, honor and worship God. An experience in which they can find forgiveness for their sin and true cleansing of heart and life. An experience in which they can give themselves to the Lord as they pledge themselves to honor and serve Him.

Yet so very often the hindrance which blocks them from pressing on into such an experience is to be found in the fact that God's people are not where they ought to be with regard to God's will for their lives.

What a wonderful difference it makes when we do get back into the center of God's will. When we are totally responsive, submissive and yielded to Him, willing to do His will whatever His will for us involves. Committed to proclaim His Word no matter where He sends us to do so. To live the life which we have been redeemed to live, and do so for His glory!

Then God will most effectively and powerfully apply His plan and purpose for us. Even as He in grace reaches out to others through us and brings them to Himself.

Down through the centuries there has been a lot of negative attacks made on this incident as it is recorded in the Scripture. These have come from a variety of people, some of whom would call themselves educated, sophisticated, and scientific, as well as claiming all kinds of other interesting titles. People who have tried to debunk and ridicule this statement. Or, at least, explain it away.

"That could never happen, a fish swallowing a man! It must be a fairy tale!" And so they dismiss it as foolish, and ridiculous.

But we must notice something which is so very important. It is man who reveals how foolish and ridiculous he is when he dismisses this record, particularly when it opens with those very vital words, "THE LORD PREPARED!"

"The Lord prepared!" God was in total sovereign control. God could have decided to prepare anything He chose. He could have done it any way He wanted to do it! After all: He is: GOD!

Do we really accept the fact of the sovereignty of God? Do we acknowledge His absolute authority and awesome almighty power? If we do, then the answer is quite simple: "With God all things are possible!"

As this was exactly what God chose to do, how foolish for us feeble humans to question it. How ridiculous we are to dismiss it.

"God prepared a great fish.” It was not God's will for His servant to perish in the storm. All that God was seeking to do was to get His servant's undivided attention.

What is the Lord's purpose when He chastises His people? As far as God is concerned, chastisement is not an end in itself. When God moves to reprove and correct, He does so with the aim of bringing us again to that point where we will be willing to listen to Him and respond to His Word!

When God is compelled to use extreme measures, it is a very clear demonstration that those extreme measures have been made necessary by our extreme foolishness and hardness in disregarding the Word of God. We decide by our attitude, by our lives, how severe God's correction and chastisement has to be.

God's purpose in dealing with Jonah the way He did was directly related to the fact that He had work for Jonah to do. He was bringing His servant back to the place of obedience, to the place of humble submission. He wanted to prepare, equip and use His servant, and He used the measures He knew were necessary to accomplish His perfect purposes.

This is still His gracious attitude. God has work for us to do in these days of desperate need. He does want to use us. He seeks, first, to get our attention so that He can speak to us. Then He works to effectively prepare and equip us, so that He can use us in His service.

Once He has been able to accomplish that, He proceeds to use our service to accomplish His great and gracious purposes in our world today.

All the way through God has been in total sovereign control. Jonah's life was never really in danger. His life was not in danger from those pagan sailors. Even though we would naturally expect them to be quite upset with him because he was the one who caused the trouble. They could have felt fully justified in getting mean with him. But his life was not in danger from them.

His life was not in danger from the storm, no matter how severe and violent the storm became. His life was not in danger even when he was swallowed by that great fish.

At every point God fully intended to bring His servant right through those experiences, out of the darkness of rebellion and disobedience into the light of restored fellowship, and back into effectiveness of service.

Never let us forget these truths. There are times when the hand of the Lord will come on us to correct. to reprove, to chastise. Under the great pressure of His hand we may feel so completely hemmed in and unable to turn in any direction that we think there is no way out.

Yet it does not matter what measures God has to use, He still guarantees His unfailing protection even as He severely corrects and reproves. He is dealing with us as: His children, remember that!

His goal is still the same, to bring us through that experience of reproof and correction out into the light of His Word and into the fullness of fellowship with Himself and with His will. If we will only let Him have His way.

Therefore, the sooner we submit to Him the sooner He can release us from that period of correction to bring us back into the light of fellowship and effectiveness.

Do we really understand this challenge? Do we really believe that God is totally committed to complete, to perfect, all that He has begun to do in us? Do we really honor Him by seeing His act of correction and reproof as genuine expressions of His love and grace. Expressions in which He is committed to His best for us, for our lives, and for our service?

We will see this, when we humbly, fully yield all to Him. We will also rejoice in the fact that as He brings us more fully into His love, light, and fellowship. He will also bring others to the Savior through us.

The vital challenge which comes to us out of the experience of Jonah is this: whenever we feel the pressure of the hand of our Lord, there is only one way to respond: humbly, thankfully, and submissively, as we yield up our all in sincere, devoted surrender to Him.