So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. — Jonah 1:15
Every day we make choices. Sometimes those choices start out with something as simple as to whether we are going to get out of bed or not. We decide how we are going to deal with the situations of life that we face. Many decisions we make we may not even think about. For example, you probably don’t think about making the decision to drink something when you are thirsty, but that is a decision we make.
The example of Jonah is one of a choice that was made which led to bad consequences. Jonah made a bad choice, it led to consequences as he ran from God. Here we find that he was in the ship and thrown into the sea. Immediately, the raging sea ceased and we see that the result of what was happening around Jonah was due to his bad decision.
Each of the decisions that we make has consequences. The consequences can be good or bad. Some lead us to great experiences, joy, or many other positive things. Others can leave us disappointed, frustrated, or angry. Sometimes, those choices leave us in the middle of a raging sea.
We all know the rest of the story about how Jonah was swallowed by the fish, that we often share was a whale. We learn in chapter 2 about how Jonah realized his bad decision and prayed to God. God heard Jonah’s cry and Jonah was given the opportunity to correct his bad decision.
Not all decisions give us the opportunity to correct them as Jonah’s did. While Jonah made a bad decision, he gave us a great example of how to address bad decisions. When we find ourselves in the middle of a raging sea of consequence, we need to go directly to God! We cannot change the decision, but God can guide us through overcoming the consequences and getting back to the place God would have us to be.