“But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken” (Jonah 1:4).
TEXT — Jonah 1:4-10
Message
A pastor had a cycling accident that landed him in the hospital with fractures to his hip. When the doctors ordered a CT scan to check for a concussion, they noticed a large malignant tumour on the front of his brain. The discovery led to treatment that included bone marrow and stem cell transplants before the man became cancer-free. Speaking on his experience, the pastor said, “God allowed the accident for my brain tumour to be found.” God sometimes makes use of unusual situations to correct serious problems.
Prophet Jonah had been sent by God to Nineveh but decided to go instead to Tarshish. God’s response was to send a storm to hinder his ship’s progress. After several efforts of battling the storm, the mariners discovered that Jonah was the albatross hindering their progress. Although Jonah was a prophet, he was a disobedient one at best. He knew the assignment God wanted him to carry out, but he balked. While others prayed fervently to their gods, he chose to sleep. And when he was challenged about his identity, he was not remorseful at the awful steps he had taken. But for the wind of God that caused the storm, Jonah would have stubbornly headed on to Tarshish against the plan and purpose of God.
Today, God still sends winds and storms to stop the swift descent that many are making to the places He did not send them. The storm was a divinely inspired move to stop Jonah’s physical progress. In 2 Chronicles 20:37, Eliezer “prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.” While God does not delight in hindering the progress of His children, we know that “… all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Whenever you encounter a raging storm in your journey in life, check up to ensure that you are not heading in the wrong direction.
Thought for the day
If God blocks your path, it is in your best interest.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
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