"This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” -Jonah 1:10-12

 

This story may sound familiar to many of you. If not, let's quickly recap. God had spoke to Jonah, telling him to go to the city of Nineveh and preach against the people because they had become wicked. Instead of doing as God instructed him, he decided to run from God (as if that were even possible) and head for the city of Tarshish. Jonah found a ship that was headed that way, so he purchased his fare and boarded the boat. God sent a mighty wind upon the sea which caused a dangerous storm that could potentially tear the boat apart. The sailors on the boat were so afraid that they started to call upon the gods that they served. When the storm still did not cease, they then began to throw cargo off the ship to make the boat lighter. That still did not work. The captain found Jonah asleep below the deck and inquired how he could sleep amidst so much chaos. He then pleaded for Jonah to pray to the God that he served in hopes that maybe Jonah's God could save them. As the narrative continues the sailors discover that the reason this storm had come upon them was because Jonah was running from God. Having learned that Jonah's God was the God of the sea and dry land, they ask him what they could do to calm the storm. Jonah then instructs them to throw him off the boat for the danger had come upon them because of his trying to flee from God. At first, they fearfully refused. The sea became more violent, so they pleaded with God begging him not to hold them accountable for killing Jonah (who they considered an innocent man), and with that they threw Jonah off the boat as he had instructed them. The sea immediately became calm, and the sailors offered a sacrifice to God, making vows to him for they now feared him.

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Here it is, a ship full of men enduring a violent storm because they had someone on board whose disobedience was bringing trouble upon them all.

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Disclaimer: Now before we continue this discussion let's make one thing perfectly clear. In no way are you to literally go throwing anyone or yourself overboard. However, there may be people in your life that you may have to stop "riding" with or say goodbye to because their inability to follow God has caused one too many violent storms in your life. And if you're reading this and your name happens to be Jonah, know that it's not personal. So here we go…

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They say that "birds of a feather flock together" but this is not always true. If we were to examine our circles, yes, we would find people who are just like us in many ways but let's be real, we all have those people in our circles that everyone else around us, even ourselves at times question, "Why do you ride with them?"

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We all have those people who are always full of drama and have a habit of causing some type of calamity at every event that you invite them to. It is to the point that you and your other friends have begun to place bets on how long it will take for the drama to start once this person arrives.  And then you have those people who are not full of drama, however, they are constantly trying to influence you to partake in things that they know you are trying to stay away from. Those "friends" that try to convince you that "God would not have made "it", if He did not want you to enjoy it".  And then there are the ones that may not tempt you but their needing you always comes along right when you find yourself trying to commit to something that God has told you to do. And because you feel the need to rescue them you put what God wants you to do on the back burner. And when we have people like this in our lives, we find ourselves not understanding why we are going through some of the things that we are experiencing because we for the most part are doing everything that we are supposed to do. Understand that sometimes having the wrong person on board can put you in harm's way. Can put you in the line of fire.

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If you recall last week's blog, FAITH, "FIRES", "PITS", and Survival (Pt. 2), we talked about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to dishonor God by bowing to the golden image. Although God did not allow the fire to harm Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the guards that carried them to the fiery furnace were killed by the flames. Let's reflect on this. It was a group of Chaldeans who told Nebuchadnezzar that the boys would not bow to the image. It was Nebuchadnezzar that ordered the soldiers to take the boys to the furnace. Some would say that they were simply doing their job by following the instruction of the king who ordered them to take the boys to the furnace. However, their allegiance and obedience to the king caused them their lives. While they were doing what the king commanded, they did not realize that what they were really doing was going against God.

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We see a similar account in the book of Genesis, chapter 12. There was a famine so Abram with his wife Sarai traveled to Egypt to live temporarily. Abram knew that his wife was attractive and feared that if they knew she was his wife, they'd kill him and let her live. He told Sarai to lie and say that she was his sister. She did as she was told. Just as Abram thought, when Pharoah's officials saw Sarai, they told Pharoah about her, and he took her into the palace as his wife. Pharoah took good care of Abram providing him with all kinds of livestock and animals. However, God sent a serious disease over Pharoah and his entire household...

                        So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t

                        you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her                              to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” Then Pharaoh gave                                  orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and                                      everything he had (Genesis 12:18-20).

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Here we see another story of someone "paying the price" due to someone else's disobedience. God had instructed Abram to go "to the land that He [would] show [him]". He made a promise to Abram telling Abram  that He was going to bless him, make his name great, be a blessing to those that blessed him and bring a curse upon those that cursed him. God told Abram that He was going to give his offspring the land that He had shown him which the Canaanites were currently living in. However, when the famine came Abram went to Egypt and lied as a means of surviving the famine. God had already promised Abram what He would do for him but instead of trusting God to take care of him, he took matters into his own hands. He was deceitful. Here's the interesting thing, Pharoah only went by what he was told by Sarai. He did not know that Sarai was Abram's wife when he took her in. However, he suffered because of this lie that was told to him. God had to inflict disease on Pharoah's household so that Pharoah could kick Abram and Sarai out which forced Abram to have to trust and depend on God. Pharoah was affected because of Abram and Sari's lie yet Abram still received the promise.

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As unfair as it may seem, sometimes other people's disobedience can put you in a place where you suffer a consequence for something that you may not have been fully aware of. How many times have you been around someone and you knew they were doing wrong and although you knew it was wrong, you stood aside, watching everything take place? You considered yourself an innocent bystander and may have even put a physical distance between you and this individual so that you were not by them while they were "partaking in this thing" that you knew was wrong. However, you chose to remain within their presence.

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Let's play a game of "What Would You Do?" to make this more relatable. Suppose a friend comes over to "hang out with you" and suddenly, their phone rings. Next thing you know, into your house walks an unfamiliar person. Your friend introduces you to this person. After noticing the confused look on your face, this friend takes you to another room and says, "My bad, I did not want to meet up with them in our usual spot because I think my significant other/husband/wife may know the spot, so I told them I was hanging out with you." Do you go to another room until your friend's company leave, staying as far away from them as possible or do you throw this friend and their company off the boat?

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How about if you and a group of friends were planning to go to a concert. You have been waiting for this concert to come for quite some time. However, one of  your friends has to work and couldn't take off. This friend decides to call in sick. Sitting right next to you, this friend picks up their phone, calls into work, and puts on an Oscar winning performance pretending to be sick. Do you laugh and joke about it with everyone else? Do you tell this friend that they were wrong but don't worry too much about it because it's none of your business, after all it's their job not yours. Or do you throw this friend off the boat?

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Or maybe you and a friend are walking and notice that a man drops a $100 bill. Your friend picks it up. You argue with them to let the man know. You even try to yell to get the man's attention, but the friend walks away abruptly to prevent from having to return the money. You don't want to look crazy, so you forget about it. You wanted to do the right thing, but you felt like your hands were tied when your friend walked away refusing to return the money. On the way home you and this friend go out to dinner and the friend offers to pay for your meal with the money that fell out of the man's pocket. Do you order dessert, or do you throw this friend off the boat?

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Whether we like it or not we are all going to be faced with scenarios in which the people that we surround ourselves with may put us in an uncomfortable position. These individuals might do things that go against our own personal morals and values. They might do things that go against what our salvation tells us is acceptable and unacceptable. This is why we must be extremely careful about who we "flock" with.

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Sometimes we may be around people and have no idea what they're doing in their personal lives that might negatively impact us. There are many people in our lives that may live "secret lives" or choose not to do certain things around us because they know we may not agree. None of us do the right thing all the time. None of us make the best choices all the time. No one is without sin. However, when you are trying to follow God, when you are trying to trust God, when you are trying to obey God, boundaries are important.

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It is not capable for any of us to have "perfect" circles but at the same time, that does not mean that we should allow ourselves to nurture dysfunction and welcome catastrophic people into our lives. Something that someone around you is doing that may seem so petty, so insignificant, "that little white lie" can bring havoc on you. God may not have the same call on them as He has on you. He may not convict them in the same way about the same things. So, while others may hang around these same "negligent" people and not be affected, God may allow you to suffer the consequence because of who He has called you to be and what He has called you to become. You may not be able to get away with things that others might be able to get away with. Better yet, you and all your friends or loved ones can partake in the same action and God will allow you to be the only one that is reprimanded for it to remind you that He has set you apart.

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We may not always throw Jonah off the boat. At times we may have to give Jonah instructions as to what the rules of the ride are. Sometimes we will have to let Jonah know that while he can't ride with us, we'll see him at the destination. Sometimes we may decide that maybe Jonah is not for us. And sometimes we may have to pray for Jonah and ask God if He so desires for us to help Jonah save himself.

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You see, Jonah was not a bad person. Even after he caused harm on that boat, God still protected him (in the belly of the whale), and then Jonah acknowledged God. He prayed to God and submitted to God. And he went and did as God commanded him. If we read the entire book of Jonah, we can see that Jonah had some anger issues.  Jonah did not always agree with the way that God did things (and honestly, neither do we) which is part of the reason why he tried to run from God. However, God still used him. At one point or another, we all have a little bit of Jonah in us which brings us to another area of discussion. What do you do when you're "the Jonah" on the boat?

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Has God been trying to get your attention? Has God called you to do something but you've been running pretending like you don't hear Him or simply ignoring Him because you don't like what He told you to do, don't think you're capable of doing what He told you to do, aren't ready to do what He told you to do but you eventually will, or maybe you don't have an excuse, you just don't have a desire to do it.  Whatever the reason, understand that your disobedience does not only impact you. Someone connected to you may be bearing the consequence of your disobedience.  Just as we are affected by the actions of others, our actions too affect other people. While we may be so quick to recognize "the Jonah's" in our lives can we recognize the Jonah who stares back at us in the mirror? We can see everyone else's bad choices, but can we see our own? We can see everyone else's disobedience, but can we see our own?

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Whether we are surrounded by the Jonah's or whether we are Jonah, we have to seek God. We have to ask God for discernment. We have to ask God to lead and guide us be it our thoughts, our behaviors, or our actions. We even have to sometimes take a step back and ask God to show us who we are surrounded by. We have to ask God to guide us and show us how to handle situations when we find ourselves in surroundings where we may be trying to do right while others around us are doing wrong. We have to ask God to guide us as to when to speak up and when to distance ourselves. We need direction concerning whether we should get involved by confronting the individual's actions or removing ourselves completely out of the equation asking God to handle it. We don't always know what to do but God does.

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It is also important for us to realize when the Jonah on our ship may not be a "Jonah" but when this "Jonah" is something more dangerous, a distraction in disguise. We cannot simply see everyone that comes along our path and stirs things up as "just another Jonah". There are some people that come along with the strict intent of throwing you off track. There are some people that intentionally plan and plot to bring conflict into your life, not because they are running from something or being disobedient but because their sole purpose is to keep you from your destination. Wholeheartedly, Jonah was not purposely trying to cause harm for the sailors even if we can assume He knew there would be consequence. Jonah knew without a doubt he was the reason for the storm. He didn't hesitate to take accountability for what he caused upon the sailors.

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However, there are people who will knowingly put you in a storm and never reveal to you that they are the cause of said storm because they don't want you to be able to escape. Recognize "haters" for what they are. Recognize those that "envy" you for what they are. Recognize "miserable people" trying to make everyone else "miserable" for what they are. This is why we must try our best to stay in the will of God so that He can protect and cover us. As long as we are doing what we're supposed to do even when these "distractions of disguise" come along to try to destroy us, God will keep us.

In Romans 16:17-19, Paul reminds us:

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17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.

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18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.

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19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

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We must stay on guard, recognizing those that come along for the sole purpose of taking us off of our "right path", straying us from what we know the right thing to do is. Straying us away from the commands of God. There are people who want to disconnect you from the people around you who are helping you to stay on track, who are praying with you and for you, who are encouraging you to do what God told you to do, so that they can influence you, so that they can gain from where you're heading. They want to control your path in a way that benefits them. They may pretend to be for you all the while plotting to let you suffer through the storm. We must ask God to help us recognize these "deceivers". We cannot allow our obedience to God to be hindered by anyone. Not the Jonahs, not the deceivers, and not ourselves.

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Most importantly, we must realize that we CANNOT RUN FROM GOD. Trying to run from God is like playing hide-and-go seek in an empty room with the lights on. The funny part is that God will let you run, frustrate yourself during the process, tire yourself out, pick you up and make you start all over again. And if you keep trying to run, at some point He'll put you in a place where you have no choice but to say, "Okay God, here I am!"  Avoid the marathon and just submit to what it is God is calling you to do. It may not be easy, but it is better than ending up in the belly of a whale.