The Wind of God
Now take God’s word and turn with me to the Old Testament book of Jonah. Now you talk about a practical book! Everybody can find themselves in one of the four chapters of Jonah.
Chapter 1 describes those who are running from God. Now you talk about LIFE ON THE RUN. Do you remember the Television show “The Fugitive?” David Janssen who portrayed Dr. Richard Kimble, was a medical doctor who had been falsely convicted of killing his wife. He was sentenced to prison but somehow escaped.
His goal was to find the one-armed man that was seen leaving the crime scene. In every show, he would almost get caught by the police, yet he would always escape and continue his life on the run.
Well, there are a lot of people today just like Dr. Kimble: living on the run and a lot of them are church-goers, yet like the prophet Jonah, they are running from God!
Last week I was visiting with a waitress while eating lunch, about her relationship with God. I then invited her to come to worship. I told her that I was preaching about Jonah who was running from God. She looked down at the floor and said, “That’s me. I am running from God.”
Do you know why there is such a great need for revival to sweep across every member of every bible believing church in America? Because way too many church members are living on the run, running from God! Running from His Word! Running from His Will! Running from repentance! Running from God!
So, chapter 1 is about: Running from God. But then, some of you are living in chapter 2: Running to God! And I pray that will be the direction you start to head. Now get this, of all the chapters of Jonah, chapter 3 is where I want to live! Chapter 1: running from God. Chapter 2: running to God. Chapter 3: Running with God!
Better than running from God and running to God .. is running with God! And then in chapter 4 we find the prophet running ahead of God. By now I hope you’ve found the book of Jonah. Here’s a man running from God .. and out of love for this prophet .. God pursues him and He uses Mother Nature to get it done. Now let’s begin reading in 1.4 as we think together about:
The Wind of God
Jonah 1.4-10
4 But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load.[a] But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” 7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
Now let me show you what the wind of God caused.
(1) The Wind caused a STORM.
Verse 4, “But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.”
There was no question about it: “the LORD sent out a great wind” causing that storm! You’re reading about a God-sent storm! So why would God send a storm like that? I’ll tell you why! Because of a rebellious child, that’s why!
Now somebody says, “Well .. if God really loved Jonah He wouldn’t have put him in that kind of danger.” Friend, God sent that storm because He DID love Jonah! In fact .. it was that storm that showed Jonah that God did love him.
Hebrews 12.6-8, “For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons,; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.” Verse 11, Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
God’s chastening is evidence that you belong to Him! “For whom the LORD loves He chastens, ” And let me say to you who today are running from God: You can anticipate the winds of God to blow across your life. And not the winds of revival .. but the winds that cause a storm. Oh, there is a storm brewing for every rebellious child of God! God loves you and cares for you! And God sends storms .. yes to slow you down but ultimately to stop your running in the wrong direction, so that you can turn around and head back to Him.
That’s why Jesus came! That’s why Jesus died! That’s why Jesus arose from the grave: so that God can have fellowship with you!
Let me show you a pitiful scene. Verse 5, “Then the mariners were afraid, and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load.” Don’t tell me that a man’s rebellion only hurts himself! Even Jonah knew better than that. Here is his own testimony in Jonah 1.12b, “For I know that this great tempest is because of me.” A man who runs from God causes a “great tempest” in his home .. in his marriage .. for his children .. in his work .. in his life.
Are you Fathers and Mothers listening? The worst thing you can do for your family is to run from God! Think of the tempest .. the upheaval .. the commotion that you’re causing for those closest to you!
Now you talk about hopeless! Those mariners were afraid .. which tells me it must had been a very violent storm for those men to be afraid. They knew the seas. They were professionals and yet they were afraid because of the commotion of the waves. And there they were crying out to their false gods at the same time throwing cargo overboard to lighten the load.
Now don’t miss this: Here is a man of God who ran from God and so God sent a storm. The storm brought fear to those who didn’t know God. And their fear drove them to cry out to their false God. Jonah’s rebellion caused those who didn’t know God to seek God .. but to seek the wrong god!
I sometimes wonder how many people that we’re driving to false gods due to the storms we’ve caused through our rebellion.
(1) The Wind caused a STORM.
(2) The Wind caused a SLEEP.
Vv.5b-6, “But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, and was fast asleep. So the captain came to him and said to him, ‘What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
There the were in a panic crying out to their false gods getting no response! The captain started looking around and realized that somebody was missing. In fact, he was sleeping! While the godless were praying, the godly was sleeping!
Let me tell you what this man of God lost because of his rebellion: he lost his influence .. he lost his testimony to those closest to him, he lost his prayer power, he even lost his desire to pray, he lost his passion for God and so will you when you run from God!
He was sleeping while those around him were seeking help and seeking God. I wonder how many around us are crying out for help that we don’t even hear because we’re sleeping! How the Devil loves to lull us to sleep in our disobedience.
How I am praying these days for God to wake us up and to shake us up and to then get us up and out showing this world the difference that Jesus makes. In days gone by our motto was “Come and hear.” And we brought those who did not know our savior to buildings like these so that they could hear how to be saved. We’re seeing just a handful of people without Jesus coming into these buildings week after to week to “come and hear.”
I don’t know if it’s because we’re no longer inviting the lost to “come and hear” or it’s because they no longer want to come. It may be that it’s because they don’t see much in us to cause them to want to be saved. We’re wanting people to want to be saved without seeing anything in us to cause them to want to be saved. To reach this generation, it’s not so much “Come and hear” as it is “go and show.” I’m praying for God to “wake up His church.” To wake us up out of our disobedience and mediocrity! For us to then “go and show” this community Jesus! For us to be more concerned with what’s going on out there than we are what’s going on in here!
Our world is filled with problems and emptiness. This is no time for the church to sleep in its disobedience. It’s time we “go and show” this world the difference that Jesus makes in a person’s life.
We were reminded early this week how life without God leads to destruction and death when a Korean immigrant student at Virginia Tech murdered 32 people and then killed himself.
On one new report a man said, “This doesn’t make any sense why a man would shoot and kill all those students and faculty.” Life doesn’t make any sense without Jesus! The Virginia Tech Tragedy should be a reminder to us why the church exists: to find ways to get the gospel to children and students and to adults.
As you know .. Cho Hul mailed pictures and videos to NBC that same morning. At times .. he spoke in the past tense knowing that he himself would be killed. And in it .. speaking of his death said, “I died like Jesus Christ” as though he died as a martyr. Friend .. let me tell you something .. Cho didn’t die like Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died so that others may live. Jesus died so that others may be saved. And how we need to continue praying for those families who have suffered this week in those senseless killings.
(1) The Wind caused a STORM.
(2) The Wind caused a SLEEP.
(3) The Wind caused a STRUGGLE.
Vv. 7-10, “And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.’ So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, ‘Please tell us. For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?’ And he said to them, ‘I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’ Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, ‘Why have you done this?’ For them en knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD because he had told them.” There in the midst of that storm was a physical struggle and a spiritual struggle. Learn this: whenever you are running from the Word and Will of God .. you’ll always cause both a physical and spiritual struggle for those around you. Husbands .. there will be struggles that your wife .. whom you love .. will avoid if you would straighten up and start living for God. Wives, there are some struggles that your husband , whom you love, will avoid, if you would turn from that sin and start walking with God.
Oh, the struggles we would avoid if we would be the men and women God wants for us! Let me show you an interesting verse. Verse 13, “Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.” They were going nowhere because of one man who was running from God!
You say, “Pastor, that pretty well describes my life today, going nowhere.” If you’re running from God, you may think that you’re going somewhere, but the truth is, you’re going nowhere. Somewhere becomes nowhere when you are running from God!
Psalm 107.29, “He calms the storm, So that its waves are still.”