April 3

Even in our Worst Days

        Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you.”  Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, O Lord, we pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not make us guilty of innocent blood; for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.”  So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.             

Jonah 1:12-16

            Jonah is just trying to get away.  He has done everything that he can think of to tell God “No.”  He has run away from his country and hopped on a ship that is bound for the other side of the known world from where God told him to go.  If God wanted to save the Ninevites, He could find someone else.

            But Jonah does not get off that easily.  The Lord sends a storm…a storm so mighty that the seasoned sailors are in a panic and praying to every deity that they can think of.  They find Jonah asleep in the boat and demand his story.  Jonah is forced to reveal everything that he wanted to hide from: God’s call, his disobedience and refusal and their doom.  This is not just a Mediterranean Sea storm.  This is the finger of God pointing right at His own fallen prophet.

            Jonah, resigned to his fate, offers to be tossed overboard to save the rest of the crew.  His failure does not need to result in the deaths of others.  The crew want no part of killing a man of God, so they try with all their might to get the boat to shore, but to no avail.  The storm is getting stronger, the boat is already straining towards its breaking point and Jonah repeatedly tells them to just throw him to the sea.  They finally agree but offer a prayer of repentance to Jonah’s God.  Jonah is thrown overboard and the violent storm stops.  The sailors believe and have a worship service on the boat with sacrifices and prayers.

            Welcome to the worst day of Jonah’s life.  He failed God.  He broke his vows.  He was exposed as a coward and a liar and a racist.  His reputation was ruined.  His wealth and status and community were thrown away.  All of the worst pieces of Jonah’s character were revealed, not just to himself but to the entire world and, thanks to collection of scripture, to the rest of recorded history.  Few people have failed so publicly and been remembered so clearly.  The worst day of Jonah’s life with the worst parts of Jonah’s character on display.

            And yet…God.

            Even in the midst of Jonah’s worst day and terrible character, God is working.  God would not give up on Jonah, sending a storm to stop the ship and sending a giant of a fish to swallow him up and return him to his mission.  God would not give up on Nineveh.  There were thousands of lost souls who needed to hear the message of repentance and He would see them saved.  God would not give up on the sailors, allowing Jonah’s terrible choices to act as testimony to the hardened men and bringing a boatful of converts through their interactions with a Failed Prophet.  God was at work in big ways and small ways to see life come to dead places.

            Our lives contain some days that are just horrible.  Sometimes they involve an avalanche of circumstances outside of our control.  Sometimes they are a result of our poor character shining through.  Sometimes our mistakes are public and everyone knows our failure.  Sometimes the days involve all of the above.  Any yet in the midst of our grief and embarrassment and pain, God is still at work. He has not given up on you.  He has not given up on your child.  He has not given up on those around you.  He is working in ways big and small to see His children saved and brought home.

            My worst day was the day I was told that I no longer fit in the long-term plans of the ministry that I had planted.  All the sacrifices that I had made, all of the dreams that I had, all of the words that I had heard from God…all of the things that I had claimed as my identity came crumbling down and I was left in shambles.  I had a young family that needed a lot of resources that was depending on me to provide.  And I had no idea what I would be able to do next.  That day launched a multi-year season of struggling to figure out what my life was supposed to look like.  There were character pieces that needed to be healed.  There were hard conversations with my wife about what we needed to do in order to make ends meet and how to do that while getting my son the help that he needed.  We both held down multiple jobs; I started writing; we moved to a new church and had a new child and then I found a new field of work in the non-profit sector.  Looking back I can see God at work as He took care of us in multiple ways.  Going through it was just hard.

            Jonah was probably not able to see God’s provision and goodness as he was fighting to stay above water or as he spent 3 days in the belly of a fish.  He was probably not able to see God’s goodness as he had to explain to a boatful of angry sailors why he was they reason that they were sinking.  But when the totality of the story was told, God’s hand could be seen throughout.

            May we have eyes to see what God is doing, even on our worst days.

A moment to reflect:

How has God been good throughout the hard seasons of life?