But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”- Jonah 1:6
Kyle Idleman concludes Chapter 3 of AHA with a discussion of the story of Jonah. Jonah refused God’s assignment to preach against sin in Nineveh, a powerful city in Assyria. Instead, Jonah took a boat 2,000 miles in the opposite direction- to Tarshish.
Just as the ship’s captain found Jonah asleep during a violent storm, sometimes we also are found sleeping through a storm of adversity. Although everyone around us can see the impending disaster, we’re oblivious to it. We also need someone to wake us up.
Pastor Idleman stresses that we must understand that our journey to the Distant Country affects not only us, but those who share their lives with us. That’s why it’s important to realize, as the author states, that “our desperate moments reveal our inherent dependence on God. It was always true; it just took a moment of desperation for us to come to our senses and realize it.”
Pastor Idleman emphasizes that we don’t have to wait until we hit rock bottom before we wake up. We can come to our senses today.
Today’s question: What has God used to reveal your dependence on Him following your vocation loss? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The sound of silence”
