Quote for the Day
““…I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
Today's Prayer
This week pray for those on the road that they will not only believe in God and His plan, but will both act on it and tell others about it. Pray for those at home that they will support their traveling family member in prayer and love this week.
Jonah 1:3-9
Jonah 1:3-9 (NIV)3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
Message
Jonah has run, but God is still close at hand. Jonah has boarded a ship going the opposite direction from what God had requested, and God is loudly knocking at the door asking Jonah to respond. As the boat is hurled in the sea, all the sailors are calling to their gods with no answer to be found. Jonah is taking a nap trying to ignore the whole world. When the sailors finally find him they are anxious to find out if Jonah can help. This is the great part… Although Jonah is running from God’s plan, he boldly proclaims God as God AND proclaims God’s power and majesty. Jonah may be a reluctant traveler, but he is a firm believer in God and His power. “I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”What about us? Do we have that faith in God? Have we wholly accepted who He is and what He has done? And do we continue to have difficulty in doing what He wants us to do? Well, we are not alone. God continues to remind us that He is there to give direction to all who believe, even those who don’t seem to listen to all the details He has already supplied.
