Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?" For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you." Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. (Jonah 1:11-13, emphasis mine)
When I was reading this passage this morning, I couldn't help but notice that, so often, I am these sailors. God says, "Let go of the oars. To get to safety, to reach salvation, you must rely on My strength, you must follow My commands, you must submit your life to Me."
But I reply, "No, Lord! I can do this on my own! I can reach You without relying on You! I can find salvation with my own ideas; I don't need Your commands!"
Put that way, doesn't it sound absurd? Yet I don't think I'm the only one who struggles with "releasing the oars" to God's control in order to find Him.
May we all have the wisdom to realize our folly as the sailors did and cry out, "O Lord, have done as it pleased you!"
So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. (Jonah 1:15-16)
2 thoughts shared:
Great thought!
Stephanie,
How are you? Its been forever since I have been online myself. We have only had internet on our Droid phones until today and we got our house internet back! Im actually excited. I want you to know that I am praying for you and pray that the Lord will bless you with a baby soon. I know that we have never actually got to get together, but we come to Helena all the time. Are you guys anywhere near there? I would still love for us to get together sometime. Anyways just email me back when you get a chance: cameronandmaudie@yahoo.com
God bless you guys and I'll talk with you later.
In Christ,
Maudie
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