07/30/2026
Stormy Sleep
Jonah 1:4–6 (ESV)⁴But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner parts of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. ⁶So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
Mark 4:37–39 (ESV)³⁷And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Both Jonah and Jesus were sleeping through a storm but the source of the storm and the cause of the storm were at opposite ends of the Spectrum. The differences in the storms that come in life and were they can stem from is a real life illustration of how to deal with the storms of life. We see through both that God has to power to create storms and the power to calm storms ( Jesus , who is God in flesh). The difference in the results have to do with the place we put ourself in and how we got there. Note, Jonah was running from God and disobeying God so the storm was caused so God could get his attention and calmed when he took steps to surrender self completely to God . The disciples storm came about as part of living in this world and happens to all of us, but because they were in the boat with Jesus, going where Jesus was leading them, in accord with His purpose, the storm they faced became calm in an instant because they focused on Jesus—looked to Him and His strength and saw the calm and peace immediately come over their situation. The moral of this blog is to consider which direction we are going and whose will we are following. If we are in His boat and going were He leads we can rest easy in the fact that even in the midst of life storms , He is in our “boat” and will bring peace and calm through the storm. If we choose to go our own way, the storm may be sent to “wake” us up and prod us to turn back to His ways and His will. Which boat are you in today?
