Clinging To Idols 4

Jonah 1:4 But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.

Again, I am sorry for my absence. Things are a little weird here right now and I haven't even started putting the holiday stuff up. Ready to see what happens next? I am!

The Lord did not just send out a great wind. According to the original meaning of the word He hurled it down. There is a violence in what the word means, as if God was taking out some frustration at the same time! I wondered about that and then I realized that even though God could have accomplished the same thing with out the drama some of us need the intensity and drama to be willing to do what He says. Not only did the intensity of that storm serve to get Jonah IN the whale it also was a statement to the men on the boat. I know that scripture doesn't say this but don't you think at least one of them was frightened enough to seek the salvation of the Lord later on? When we are being disciplined by God others around us see it. When Marc and I lost our house in 1994,a s well as nearly everythign else, others watched in horror as we were stripped of one thing after another...But God! We had the grace and the peace to walk through it and as we did people around us were touched and changed.

The word great in Great Wind means intense and loud..but interestingly enough it is also a word that means...God Himself. God did not just send the storm, God Himself WAS the storm! And I got goosebumps when I read this but...the word for wind? It means the Holy Spirit!

In the midst of the storm, God WAS the storm and even then He sent the Comforter to ease the way. That same word for wind is identified with the prophetic word and an endowing a man with a gift. Are you getting this? Yes! Jonah was running away but even in the running God was pouring out gifts on him to make him more of a prophet than he all ready was!

Your storm may have begun for many reasons. Maybe some of them are your doing and maybe not. But the fact remains that God is that storm, the Holy Spirit is in that storm and even whole the wind is rushing around loud and intense you are being protected, comforted, and infused with more gifts than you all ready had! You may have started out a prophet but now you are being transformed into a PROPHET. You may have started out as a teacher but now you are being transformed into a TEACHER. Your music, your art, your giftings are being intensified, honed, and detailed with precision in this storm!

The word mighty is used in regards to the tempest but it is the same word as great. it speaks of God Himself being the whirlwind in the sea. No wonder the sailors were frightened!
The word for ship can be used for the actual ship or to describe the sailors and looking at the rest of the verse I will say it is the men we are talking about. You see translated it looks like:
..the men considered themselves to be crushed.

But wait! There's more!
The word also means ...oh my gosh..are you ready?
The word also means to break out, to be brought to birth.
Did you get that? To be brought to birth. Now, back to my original thought..Those men on the ship were forever changed AND Jonah was about to be ....Born-Again!

Let's stop here, shall we? That is almost too much to take in. At least for me.

Lord,
Thank you for being our storm, for being in our storm and for sending the Comforter to minister to us during it. We choose to trust You in this. Amen.