Lessons From Jonah - Not Just A Fish Story (Part 2)

The Sovereignty of God As Seen In the Weather 

 

Reading the Book of Jonah provides many great messages and truths of the Bible. As I previously wrote on, Jonah is a classic example of what happens when we choose to exercise free will over God’s will. When God calls us to do something we should listen and obey. But even if we don’t, Jonah reminds us that God is sovereign, and His will shall prevail.

The sovereignty of God is the second gem of truth we find in the story of Jonah. Listen to what happened when Jonah decides to ignore God’s Word and go the other direction.

Jonah 1:4
The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.

The fact that God is in complete control of the weather is made evident many times in scripture. We see it in the great flood and then in its aftermath.

Genesis 7:4
"For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made."

Genesis 8:1
But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.

Genesis 9:13-14
I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud.

Job knew God was sovereign.

Job 5:10
"He gives rain on the earth And sends water on the fields.”

Its seen in the Psalms.

Psalm 147:7-8
Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; Sing praises to our God on the lyre,  Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.

Psalm 78:26
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens And by His power He directed the south wind.

And yes, Jesus, in an exercise of His deity, gave a demonstration.

Matthew 8:26-27
He said to them, "Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.  The men were amazed, and said, "What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

The Bible is clear, God is sovereign. This means when storms come, God is behind it. When God created the world, He also established the laws of nature. In science we can find certain answers to weather patterns and so on, but even if a certain weather event is explained by the laws of nature, that still means God is in control. If a tornado wipes out a town or a flood devastates a community, God could have prevented it. So, whether God directly brings upon an event or He simply allows it, we can trust that even in tragedy, He is working it through for His will. This was the case for Jonah.

Jonah 4:6-8  

So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered.  When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, "Death is better to me than life."

Jonah was in rebellion to God and since God had chosen Jonah to serve God’s message to the Ninevites, God in His sovereignty, used His power over nature to impose His will over Jonah’s.

What does this story say to us as Christians? The answer is obvious; we need to be obedient to God’s call on our lives. Like Jonah, we cannot hide from God. Like Jonah, we cannot force our will to override God’s. We can try. But we see clearly that things will not go well for us when we live in rebellion to God.

This doesn’t mean that because it rained on your picnic with your family and messed up the day that you are necessarily being disciplined for something you did or didn’t do. But it does mean that when we are amid the storms of life, we should go to God in prayer and seek His Word to see if we are choosing to live in our will or in His. It means that when we are struggling through the floods of life, we can rest in faith that God is behind it and He is in complete control. We just need to turn to Him.

There is a great scripture that provides me comfort and I have committed to memory. I close this message with it for it expresses the truth of God’s sovereignty.

Romans 8:28
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Trust Him. Even in the storm.

Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 29

I try and spend as much time as I can outside. I am convinced that one of the problems with people today is that they spend too much time inside. If you think about, what is inside that is part of God’s creation? Other than the air we breathe, our homes and offices are mostly filled with man-made items. Even the environment is man-controlled. We push buttons and control temperature and lighting. We need reminders of who God is and short of His Word, there is no greater revelation of God than we see in the creation. Psalm 29 finds David ascribing glory to God through the creation.

Psalm 29:1-2

Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.  Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.

Far too many people fear nature. Storms invoke fear into their hearts. But David knew God has each and every aspect of nature, completely under His control.

Psalm 29:3-8
The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters.  The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.  He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.  The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.  The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

Life and death are in the hands of God; even for the animals.

Psalm 29:9
The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

Notice that it is “The voice of the Lord” that controls nature. God speaks and the world moves. Man has to work hard to build something. But God merely speaks to create. God speaks and the deer give birth.

The point here is that God is worthy of all our praise and we must ascribe to Him the glory for all good things. But even the great flood that wiped out everyone except Noah and his family, were under God’s hand.

Psalm 29:10
The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever.

God is sovereign. We can find peace only through trusting in Him, no matter the power of the storms.

Psalm 29:11
May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!

Take time today to get out and spend time observing God’s wonderful creation. Yea, I know; it’s hot out. But remember that God has His hand on the thermostat. Trust in Him. Lift up your hands and ascribe Him the glory He deserves.