Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

““Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “What have you done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them. Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?” For the sea grew more and more stormy. He said to them, “Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great storm is on you.” Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and said, “We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, don’t let us die for this man’s life, and don’t lay on us innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done as it pleased you.” So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging. Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made vows.”
(Jonah 1:10-16)

“Those who go down to the sea in ships,
    who do business in great waters,
    these see Yahweh’s deeds,
    and his wonders in the deep.
For he commands, and raises the stormy wind,
    which lifts up its waves.
They mount up to the sky; they go down again to the depths.
    Their soul melts away because of trouble.
They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man,
    and are at their wits’ end.
Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble,
    and he brings them out of their distress.
He makes the storm a calm,
    so that its waves are still.
Then they are glad because it is calm,
    so he brings them to their desired haven.
Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness,
    for his wonderful deeds for the children of men!”
(Psalm 107:23-31)

“For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and arguing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world, holding up the word of life, that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain. Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. In the same way, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.”
(Philippians 2:13-18)

Jonah didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to obey God and offer mercy to the Assyrians, enemies of Israel. He disobeyed. He went down to a port, down toward a city away from Nineveh, down into the boat, and down into deep sleep. He disobeyed. The sailors around him were caught up in a storm that threatened their boat, their profits from shipping, and their lives. They were desperate for answers. They needed a god who could control the seas (which was one of the tests of a god’s power in the ancient Middle East), but none of theirs were working. When Jonah was cast down into the water (a suicide attempt to make sure that he didn’t have to obey God), the storm was stilled by the God who had brought it forth. The sailors saw this, and honoured Yahweh for His power and mercy. But Jonah had doubled down, giving up his life (or so he thought) to disobedience.

God is more than a God who ‘controls’ the seas. God CREATED the seas. God is MASTER of the sea. God WALKS on the sea (Job 9:8). The waters, the winds, and everything else in creation MUST obey Him (Matthew 8:27). God saved the sailors. God stilled the storm. God rescued them from their circumstances – even though they didn’t worship Him. He did it because He doesn’t seek their destruction (2 Peter 3:9). God is a God of mercy. He wouldn’t punish the sailors for what Jonah was choosing to bring on Himself. God was good to the sailors and they lived to consider His glory another day.

Jonah was disobedient (among other reasons) because he let his personal feelings cause a grudge. He grumbled. He complained. He later argues with God. Jonah was thinking from the human point of view, not God’s point of view. He was seeing what he did only from his own perspective. But it isn’t US who work for our goodness. It is GOD who works in us. God’s opinion matters. His point of view matters. We need to align with it, not try and get it to work to our advantage. It is God and what God wants that matters. We are to be humbly submitted and obedient. That is our good and rightful service. Obedience.

Summary

God is in control. He is sovereign. He knows the beginning from the end. He can prepare plans and strategies we have no way to figure out or unravel. But we also have free will. We can cooperate with Him or we can rebel against Him. The circumstances don’t matter. Our opinion doesn’t matter. What we reason and think and ‘know’ doesn’t matter. We are asked to be obedient because it is right and good that we are obedient to Him. He is God Almighty. Period. Full stop. Everything else is just the trappings of human thinking. We are to be obedient. The great thing, is that when we are focused on our love of God and His love for us, obeying is EASY. When we are so in love with Him, we don’t even need to think about it. When we trust Him to cover everything, obedience is nothing at all. Why not obey? He’s got us. When we walk from love, all the difficulties aren’t difficult at all. In HIM we have our joy, our strength, and our purpose. Let Him work in you what He wants to work. Trust Him and obey.