“But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.” Jonah 1:4
As Hurricane Ian showed us, there are lots of storms that impact lots of people and not every storm is a direct confrontation of a wayward follower of God. But Jonah 1 shows us that some storms very much are that kind of confrontation. Jonah was going exactly the wrong direction and God was committed to getting him back on track.
Most “storms” – both literal and figurative – are simply reminders of the brokenness of the world we live in and the brevity of life. They serve as wake up calls and visual lessons not to hold on to the fleeting stuff of earth but to hold fast to the Lord alone.
When asked about some locals who had been recently slaughtered by Pilate, Jesus said it wasn’t because they were worse than other people in Galilee but it was a clear warning to everyone else to repent.
“Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13:4-5
We struggle with evil and suffering in the world – the why and the why now and the why me – but the fact is that all people face challenges and God uses them all to call us to Himself. If there was no heaven and no restoration of all things and no eternity with the Lord then the hurricanes and earthquakes and genocides and warfare would all be impossible to justify. But all of the darkness and evil in the world is intended to draw us to the light.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
Moths consume clothing. Rust destroys the strongest tools (and now cars). Criminals threaten everything we own, including our families and our lives. The Bible never downplays the evil and suffering in the world. Rather, God uses everything – the blessings and the brokenness – to call people to Himself.
In Jonah’s case, it was a massive storm. And that storm also served to get a whole crew of polytheistic, superstitious sailors saved. This is our prayer for Hurricane Ian, and it is our confident hope, that God will use the wide path of destruction left by the storm to draw hundreds, thousands of people to Himself. So many people lost everything they owned on earth. May they now lift their eyes to heaven for hope!
And may the people of God rise up to love our neighbors well, showing them the reason for the hope that we have in Christ!