Jonah 1: 4 – 5 says, “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. Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load.[a] But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.”
There are many debates about storms, hurricanes etc. According to the Webster’s New College Dictionary, a “tempest” is “a violent storm with high winds, especially one accompanied by rain, hail or snow.”
Storms come in many ways. There are storms of life that God speaks to us about in Psalm 46 and He lets us know that He is ever present in our time of trouble. We have storms to test the measure of our faith and Jesus said in the Scriptures “O ye of little faith…”
Storms cleanse the earth, purge, removes old things and brings new things to the forefront. It uproots trees and even blows seeds to new places. Storms can even create jobs for the poor. Storms reveal the hearts of those in leadership and whether or not they truly care for the people and are willing to offer assistance in times of disaster.
There are contrary winds which oppose God’s will for your life. We see it in the Scriptures when the disciples were crossing over and there were contrary winds that Jesus rebuked.
In Matthew 14: 22 – 33 Jesus knew that the contrary wind was coming and furthermore He wanted to see if they were ready to go to the next level in the supernatural. He also wanted to show His humanity and reveal His Deity and power over the elements which He created. (Read Luke 8: 35; Mark 4: 39)
Storms also promote some and bring others to repentance. There are many Scriptures which tell us that God rides on the very wind. God speaks through nature and each person may receive a different message. Storms change priorities, mandates and motives. STORMS ALSO SPEAK TO US ABOUT APOCALYPTIC HAPPENINGS AND THINGS TO COME. (Luke 21; Revelation 6 – which are coming).
So each person has a message. But what stood out to me is Jonah 1: 4 where God sent a great wind on the sea – a mighty tempest. This could possibly be a category 5 hurricane because it threatened to break up a ship. This came about because of Jonah’s disobedience because Jonah was running from the presence of God. He did not want to go and preach repentance to the people to whom God wanted to show mercy. So the question is, could it be that storms are coming up because of the disobedience of some of God’s people who no longer want to preach repentance and have gone in a different direction doing their own thing? In the midst of all that Jonah was fast asleep in the midst of the boatful of people worshipping other gods. Jonah didn’t even want to identify himself as a prophet of God until his life was threatened and he had no choice. Is that what it will take for the prophets of God to do what God says? In all of it, Jonah asked to be thrown overboard because He knew that it was him and his disobedience that brought on the storm. It is after that we see the transformation take place with those aboard the ship. So the Holy Spirit said to me – the storm preached the gospel that Jonah would not! So when men in different nations throughout the globe stop preaching the gospel and compromise, He will use nature to preach just as in the days of Noah. And it will not just threaten the lives of the saved but also the unsaved. We will see many disasters globally unless we preach the gospel.
Those governments and organizations who refuse to change direction and refuse to help the poor the fatherless and the widow, and refuse to embrace Godly environment and principles will end up ‘shipwrecked’ and will spend far more than they bargained for to recover from natural disasters.
When we fail to listen to God’s true servants, then we will have to listen to the wind and nature that don’t need permission, regulations or visas and cannot be sanctioned, regulated or zoned.