Jonah 1:7-11: a reflection

7They all said to each other, “Come! Let’s cast lots, that we may know who is responsible for this evil that is on us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8Then they asked him, “Tell us, please, for whose cause this evil is on us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you?” 9He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.” 10Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “What have you done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?” For the sea grew more and more stormy.

Jonah, fleeing from God, is asleep in a ship caught in a deadly storm, a storm sent because of his disobedience. When the sailors cast lots to find who is responsible, the lot falls on Jonah; and he confesses: I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. His running from God has endangered not only himself but the whole ship's crew, innocent men now caught in the storm his disobedience brought. His sin was not his own private concern; it endangered others.

Notice how Jonah's flight from God affected others. He may have thought his disobedience was his own business, a private matter between him and God. But his running from God brought a storm that endangered the whole crew, innocent men who had nothing to do with his disobedience, now fighting for their lives because of it. Our sin, Jonah's story shows, is rarely a purely private matter; it can affect and endanger those around us, drawing others into the trouble it brings.

That is a sobering truth about our own sin: it is rarely as private as we think. We can imagine that our disobedience, our running from God, affects only ourselves; but like Jonah's, it can bring trouble on those around us, drawing others into the storm our sin creates. The sailors suffered for Jonah's disobedience. Do not imagine that your sin affects only you; your running from God, your disobedience, can bring trouble and harm to those around you, who are drawn into the storm your sin creates. Let the awareness that your sin affects others, not only yourself, sober you and strengthen your resolve against it. Jonah's flight endangered the whole crew; consider whom your own disobedience might affect, and turn from it, for the sake of others as well as yourself, rather than treating your sin as a purely private concern.

Lord, Jonah, fleeing from you, brought a deadly storm on the ship, endangering the whole crew, innocent men caught in the trouble his disobedience brought; his sin was not his own private concern, but endangered others. Sober me with that truth about my own sin: it is rarely as private as I think. I can imagine that my disobedience, my running from you, affects only myself; but like Jonah's, it can bring trouble on those around me, drawing others into the storm my sin creates. The sailors suffered for Jonah's disobedience. Keep me from imagining that my sin affects only me; my running from you, my disobedience, can bring trouble and harm to those around me, who are drawn into the storm my sin creates. Let the awareness that my sin affects others, not only myself, sober me and strengthen my resolve against it. Jonah's flight endangered the whole crew; help me consider whom my own disobedience might affect, and turn from it, for the sake of others as well as myself, rather than treating my sin as a purely private concern. Turn me from the sin that harms others as well as me, Lord.