Learning to Obey God and Sail through Rough Seas
ICS Daily Devotions
To submit simply means to yield your way to someone else or someone who is ranked above you. God holds the highest authority in the lives of the Old Testament and New Testament believers. We are to yield and submit to Him. This submission is in every aspect of our lives. It covers ethics, moral values, and our character through walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh.
In the Old Testament, Jonah disobeyed God’s Word, followed his flesh and suffered a great deal.
Jonah 1:5b,9,12 (NKJV) But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep….. So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”… And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”
Jonah had an attitude problem. He heard from God but refused to act on what he had heard. We can conclude that he knew God enough to have the conviction that he would not be killed in the whole process. He was so self-assured to ask the sailors to throw him overboard so that the sea would be calm for them. He knew that he was the cause of their problem. The fact that he was able to sleep amid the storm showed that he knew God is truly merciful, gracious, and slow to anger. He was also aware that God is the maker of heaven and earth. Nonetheless, He was an outright rebellious Hebrew whom God needed to deal with.
The lesson we need to learn from Jonah is one will never outwit God. If we refuse to submit and be obedient, then we will have to face the consequences and even the onslaught of the evil one. We must all learn to obey God to yield good fruits and results. Jonah eventually learned to submit to God’s will, and God saved him by bringing him back on dry land (Jonah 2:9-10), but Jonah had to learn the hard way.
All of us would like our jobs, businesses, and investments to be blessed by God. God is a faithful covenant partner, but He also has certain expectations of us even though He loves us unconditionally. God has done His part and will continue to do so, but we should also be faithful in carrying out the challenge of reaching the lost and to walk in His will. Reaching the lost is a great concern in the heart of God. Therefore, His last command—the Great Commission—should be our first concern. If we are in partnership with Him and walking in the perfect will of God, we will have more smooth sailing, even though there may be the occasional rough sea experiences, with His presence in our lives.
Sermon Series: Smooth Sailing
