14 - The Decisive Question

                                                             # 14 - The Decisive Question

Jonah 1:11: “Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous.”

“What shall we do to you…”

In our last devotion we looked at the first question the sailors asked Jonah – “What have you done?” Even before Jonah could respond to that question, they throw him the next question – “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?” If you look carefully at this question, it’s really a loaded one. Let’s look at it a little closer.

Sometimes when questions are asked, it isn’t so much because answers are required but more as a means of suggesting an answer. Such questions are called suggestive questions. Though the sailors were not asking an outright suggestive question, if you read between the lines, there is a glimpse of a possible solution hidden in the question. It seems like they’ve decided that since Jonah was the cause for the tempest they were facing that he was the one who would have to decide what needed to be done. Very often we think that the person responsible for a problem also has the solution to the problem – that’s not always true. Sometimes problem makers have nothing to do with the solution. In this case, though, we’ll find that Jonah did have a solution.

Not only are they asking Jonah for a possible solution, but it looks like they’ve decided that they should do something to Jonah and they want him to decide the course of action. It’s interesting that they didn’t make the decision as to how to deal with Jonah but they left that choice to him.

“…That the sea may be calm..”

It seems like their main concern is to get the sea back to its original state of rest and calm, so they could continue on their journey to Tarshish, because, as of now, it’s anything but calm – it’s so tumultuous that they’re afraid for their lives.

This is where the comparison between Jonah and The Church takes a turn that’s a lot less comfortable than the previous devotions. If we are to go with the assumption that the Lord has sent this Pandemic (that we earlier called a ‘tempestillence’) to wake up and shake up The Church; if perhaps the world somehow discovers that we are the cause for this pandemic, I wonder whether they would ask us the question - “What shall we do to you (The Church) so that this Pandemic would disappear?” Secondly, will they leave the decision to us, The Church, as to how they are to deal with us, or would they make that decision themselves? If they left that decision to us, what might we decide as to their course of action? And if they made the decision themselves, what might they possibly do? I know all these questions are based on probabilities, but they’re still worth pondering during this time.

“…For us?”

As is the case with most of us, who consider ourselves the centre of the universe as it were because we are the most important people in our lives, so it was with the sailors too. They were so concerned about themselves that they say to Jonah, “What shall we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?” Notice the words, “do to you,” and the words, “for us.” They had discovered that Jonah was the reason God sent the pestilence, they were now concerned about how they would survive the ordeal they were facing – their lives mattered more than anything else at that point in time. It wasn’t that they were merely concerned about dealing with Jonah, they were more concerned about getting themselves out of that situation and with that intent were asking Jonah for any ideas he might have.

The world hasn’t changed much since then. All of us are still mostly concerned about ourselves and when in a life-threatening situation, most people would place themselves before anybody else. If the situation arises where people have to decide between saving themselves and saving others, most people would choose to save themselves – that’s the stark reality that we need to come to grips with. When talking about the signs of the end of the world, Jesus said in Matthew 24:7-14 – “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Notice that Jesus said that pestilences are one of the things that are the beginning of sorrows. This pandemic is one such pestilence.

As you read on in the above passage, it says that people would choose themselves over others, hating and betraying one another. The world will still consider themselves over others, just as the sailors did. Let’s mentally prepare ourselves for this and not make-believe that this will not happen to The Church. Let’s decide to live for Jesus before we decide to die for Him.

“…For the sea was growing more tempestuous.”

The reason for their desperation was that, not only was there a terrible tempest – the likes of which they had never seen and understandably so since the Lord Himself had sent the tempest. But another reason for their desperation could be, that the sea was only growing more tempestuous – it had not reached a climax from which it seemed to be going to descend – it was still on an upward climb. Much like the Corona Virus Pandemic across the globe at the moment – there are no signs of slowing down, nor are there any significant hopes of a vaccine being available in the near future. No one knows for sure where this will lead – how many lives will be lost when borders will open up when families can be united again with loved ones, when schools, hotels, businesses, travel, etc. will return to normal. We can’t even guess – the ‘tempestillence’ shows no signs of slowing down.

Things are becoming more challenging for The Church day by day – we’re hearing of more people, including Christian leaders getting both infected and succumbing to the virus, thereby creating a void in The Church. This means, there are fewer shepherds to shepherd the flock of God’s sheep and that’s going to have its effects, both on the local churches as well as on the Global Church.

We don’t need to get to the stage where the world begins to question us. We can question ourselves and seek the Lord’s forgiveness for our lackadaisical attitude towards Him, towards one another, towards the world around us, and to His calling on our lives individually, and The Church-at-large. Let’s remember God’s word in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14, where it reads, “When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Let’s seek the Lord with all our heart, and ask Him to transform both our lives and the situation we and the world are in. He is faithful to His word and will be merciful to us and will deliver us.

Have a good day and God bless you.