“Let’s put out to sea,” the captain ordered. Sailors flung ropes off the ship to the dock. Rowers strained at their oars as the little wooden vessel pulled away from land and headed out into the Mediterranean. Below decks a Hebrew prophet named Jonah lay fast asleep.
The ship’s crew anticipated a routine voyage. Everyone felt “up” as the sea breeze pushed the craft farther and farther from land. Things looked good!
Without warning a violent storm suddenly swept over the Mediterranean. Waves lashed the ship so severely that it threatened to break up. Now, everyone felt “down.” “All the sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god.”
Ups and downs fill human experience. Life does not glide along in a steady state: life constantly greets us with an alternating rise and fall. Instead of trying to find an unfaltering, changeless, always–the-same life, we must learn to use ups and downs.
The Lord loved Jonah, but he also loved the sailors who manned the ship. As long as life remained “up,” each sailor worshipped his own god. But the Lord, the true God, wanted these ordinary men to know him; he desired their friendship. So, he sent a vicious, threatening storm to change their “up” into a “down.”
God used life’s ups and downs to redirect the sailors’ attention toward himself. As long as life flowed along smoothly, these men were perfectly happy with their false gods. But when life went from an “up” to a “down,” they began looking to the true God, Jonah’s God. “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.”
Dearest friends, since we can’t prevent ups and downs, let’s use them to keep ourselves focused on the Lord and his will for our lives. Refuse to spend time questioning yourself and God. Just cling to the One who clings to you!
Scriptures referred to: Book of Jonah
Pull Quote: We must use life’s ups and downs to keep ourselves focused on God.
