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April 23
STORM MAKERS

Scripture: Jonah 1:12 “And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.”

     Jonah begins with the prophet receiving a call from God to go to Nineveh and preach to them concerning their wickedness.  The Lord told Jonah to “arise, go to Nineveh”, but instead Jonah “rose up to flee” from the presence of the Lord.  What a sad picture of a man running from the Lord!  Jonah had refused to do what the Lord had called him to do. He had made his way downward as he fled. He went “down to Joppa” and there found a ship going “down to Tarshish”.  He then went “down into the ship” and then “down into the sea” and then “down into the belly of the whale”.  Running from God is always a downward path.
    In his journey trying to get away from God, the Lord had not left him.  How can you go somewhere where the presence of the Lord is not at?  Chapter 1 and verse 4 tells us “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.” The storm that came up that day was because of Jonah!  
    I read this passage and I wondered if there were others who had caused storms because of their disobedience.  Jonah had caused the storm and he knew that it was because of him that the stormy winds were raging.  
    The storm that Jonah caused affected himself and it also affected others.  All the lives of those on the ship with him were now in danger.  What Jonah had done in turning away from the Lord had put the lives of all the others in jeopardy!  Friend, when we try to run from the presence of the Lord, it affects other people.  Those on the ship were affected by the storm, but all those in Nineveh where Jonah was supposes to be preaching were affected as well.  Oh how many lives we endanger when we make storms along the way because of our disobedience!