Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. Proverbs 3:5 AMP.

It was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Hebrews 2:10 NKJV.

Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 2 Corinthians 4:17.

I loved this in You Are The Beloved by Henri Nouwen: “Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and ask Him more directly to give you joy, peace, and a pure heart. Purity of heart means a heart where God is the center of your attention. Take a simple sentence like “The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want,” and repeat that quietly during your day until the truth of it enters the center of your being. You will always continue to have feelings of depression, anger, and restlessness, but when God dwells in the center of the storm, the storm is less frightening and you can live with trust that in the midst of all of the darkness you will be led to a place of joy and peace.”

I never realized before that our book and chapter, Jonah 1, centers around Assyria. I knew Jonah was tasked to go to Nineveh, but never realized Nineveh was in Assyria, the very nation that would later conquer Israel. In the notes below: “1:3 Nineveh was a powerful and wicked city. Jonah had grown up hating the Assyrians and fearing their atrocities. His hatred was so strong that he didn’t want them to receive God’s mercy. Jonah was actually afraid the people would repent (4:2,3). Jonah’s attitude is representative of Israel’s reluctance to share God’s love and mercy with others, even though this was their God-given mission (Genesis 12:3). They, like Jonah, did not want non-Jews (Gentiles) to obtain God’s favor.”…”1:1,2 God told Jonah to preach in Nineveh, the most important city in Assyria, the rising world power of Jonah’s day. Within 50 years, Nineveh would become the capital of the vast Assyrian empire. Jonah doesn’t say much about Nineveh’s wickedness, but the prophet Nahum gives us more insight. Nahum says that Nineveh was guilty of (1) evil plots against God (Nahum 1:9); (2) exploitation of the helpless (Nahum 2:12); (3) cruelty in war (Nahum 2:12, 13); (4) idolatry, prostitution, and witchcraft (Nahum 3:4). God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, about 500 miles northeast of Israel, to warn of judgment and to declare that the people could receive mercy and forgiveness if they repented.” Can you imagine someone today tasked with going to a nation powerful and proud and telling them about God’s desires for them to repent and receive His blessings? It helps us understand Jonah and why he went in the opposite direction.

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. v. 1-3. You can almost see Jonah standing patiently after paying his fare, waiting to board the ship! They busyness of the seaport, the gulls flying above. Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 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. 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 so that we will not perish.” v. 4-6. The sailors don’t know, but Jonah knows exactly who is causing this great and violent storm and why. Did he pray knowing he doesn’t want to talk to God and why? 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. So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” v. 7-9. Can you imagine hearing that from Jonah? This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” v. 10-11. The seas are getting worse. Now they’re afraid to do harm to the one person the Lord, the Creator of the sea and the dry land, has sent and is now standing on their deck! They were afraid to hurt him and afraid not to…and Jonah’s response? “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” v. 12. Logically, that seemed a worse idea because they didn’t want to anger this particular god, The Creator God! Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for You, Lord, have done as You pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to Him. v. 13-16. The expression “there are no athiests in foxholes” applies to raging seas as well. Imagine what it was like…these sailors received an object lesson dramatically of Who is in charge of the seas; and as the prophet of Creator God, Jonah knew the Lord would also calm the seas when he was thrown overboard. They did, I would imagine as gently as they could…and it was immediately calm. And these hardened and frightened sailors then feared the Lord, made a sacrifice to Him and made vows to Him. And Jonah? I wonder what he thought would happen next as the ship left him. This book is fascinating! In realizing that God wanted His prophet to go to a nation like Assyria, how can I not then pray for every nation today? How can we not pray for all of God’s children whom He loves? Again in the notes below: “1:13 By trying to save Jonah’s life, the pagan sailors showed more compassion than Jonah, because Jonah did not want to warn the Ninevites of the coming judgment of God. Believers should be ashamed when unbelievers show more concern and compassion than they do. God wants us to be concerned for all of His people, lost and saved.” We are living in turbulent, “raging seas”, kinds of times. Has it not been so throughout all the ages of mankind? Can we pray for all of Creator God’s children in every nation? Can we care about them as Creator God cares for them and for us? I know it’s hard. Jesus, the Son, came to show us a better way. Can any nation stand up to the teachings of Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount? “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?” Matthew 5:43-46. And this…“A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34, 35. How do we do that? Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. Why do we think Scripture is given? To teach us a better way and it is in trusting Creator God who knows exactly everything that is going on in every nation, and that the only way forward out of the darkness of this world is with Him and His love for us all. We can’t change the hearts of everyone, that is not our task, but we can change our own heart with His help – and let God be God. He knows. He loves us still. Can we truly begin to trust Him who created us? I can’t imagine Jonah would ever have thought up what happened to him next. God did!