I've been listening to a sermon series by James McDonald called God in Pursuit — A Study in Jonah, and I noticed something I never had before — Jesus wasn't the only man who slept on a boat in the middle of a storm.
We know the story of Jonah well: God called the prophet to go to the wicked Ninevites and preach salvation, but Jonah didn't want to go. He didn't think the Ninevites deserved the chance to repent of their sin and receive forgiveness. So in an effort to run away from the call of God, Jonah got on a boat to Tarshish, which was in the opposite direction of Nineveh, foolishly thinking he could hide from God. "But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the seas, so that the ship threatened to break up" (1:4). The sailors on the boat with Jonah were terrified. They started throwing stuff overboard and calling out to their gods to rescue them. And where was Jonah? Fast asleep below deck.
When I was reminded that detail of Jonah being asleep during the storm, it made me think of the story in Mark 4. Jesus told His disciples that it was time to "go to the other side," so they got on the boat and started their journey. When a terrible storm hit, the disciples started panicking because they were convinced they were going to die. And where was Jesus? Sound asleep in the stern of the ship with His head on a cushion.
There are some similarities in these stories, but the reasons behind the storm and why Jesus and Jonah were sleeping are very different.
First, let's consider why God sends storms into our lives. In Jonah's case, God sent the storm to wake him from his rebellious slumber and to bring him to a point of crisis (because crisis is oftentimes the only thing that gets the stubborn person's attention and ultimately leads to surrender). His sleeping wasn't indicative of an inner peace, but of what Matthew Henry calls "carnal security":
“Sin is of a stupifying nature, and we are concerned to take heed lest at any time our hearts be hardened by the deceitfulness of it. It is the policy of Satan, when by his temptations he has drawn men from God and their duty, to rock them asleep in carnal security, that they may not be sensible of their misery and danger.”
But God, being "a merciful and compassionate God, slow to become angry, rich in faithful love," loved Jonah too much to let him remain asleep in his rebellion (Jonah 4:2). He pursued Jonah relentlessly, doing whatever it took to draw him to Himself, which included a storm and a giant fish Jonah was sure would kill him. You see, God will go to great lengths to save His children who are wandering in sin, rebellion, and spiritual lethargy, but this "rescue mission" is often a painful one. As Tim Keller writes, "Sometimes God seems to be killing us when He's actually saving us." Or as Job put it, "He crushes but also binds up; He strikes, but His hands also heal" (Job 5:18).
In Mark 4, we find another sleeping Man on a boat in the midst of a storm, but the sleep and the storm were for entirely different reasons. In this case, God sent the storm "to try the faith of his disciples and to stir up prayer," as Matthew Henry notes. It seems so upside-down in our limited understanding, but suffering actually strengthens our faith: "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness" (James 1:2-3). God already had the attention of the disciples, and they weren't in rebellion, but He wanted to bring them to a deeper knowledge of Himself, and so He sent a storm to do just that.
Since Jesus had perfect faith in His Father, He was able to peacefully sleep in the storm because He knew He was safe in His Father's will. The psalmist wrote, "In vain you get up early and stay up late, working hard to have enough food—yes, He gives sleep to the one He loves" (Psalm 127:7). This kind of sleep — the kind Jesus was experiencing in the middle of the storm — comes when we don't spend our energy worrying and fretting and catastrophizing about the "what-ifs" and "could-bes" of life, but instead trust that, whether awake or asleep, we are never out of God's sovereign care. We trust Him so entirely that, even in the midst of what feels like absolute chaos, we can rest.
Has God sent a storm into your life? Is it to bring you to a point of crisis in order to wake you from a rebellious slumber, or is it to build your faith and take you deeper with Him? Whatever the case, respond with surrender, and trust that God knows exactly what He's doing.
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