This post is Day 4 in a series of studies about “Jonah”. I strongly suggest you begin with the introduction to this study, please click here to read it.

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Jonah – Day 4

Having achieved the first part of his project, relief helped Jonah to sleep! Running away from God can be a tiring thing to do! Where was Jonah hoping to run to? He knew without a doubt that God could see him wherever he went, that there was nowhere to hide!

Jonah 1:5

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

The Thought

Some people can sleep anytime, anywhere, even through the worst of situations. Maybe Jonah was just the sort of person who could do that. Or maybe this was a supernatural sleep sent by God, so that the others on the ship saw that Jonah was different.

Do you know that God can help you stay calm and sleep even through the worst of storms? Isaiah gives us a clue as to how to do that, in speaking to the Lord: You will keep in perfect peace, those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You (Isaiah 26:3). Focusing on the Lord and not on the problem is the answer.

Maybe Jonah slept because of genuine tiredness, relieved at having arrived at the port and having found a boat going anywhere! He doesn’t seem to have had a plan other than to avoid doing what God wanted him to do. We suppose he was hoping that God would find somebody else who just happened to be nearer to Nineveh than Jonah would be. How wrong he was!

Having achieved the first part of his project, relief helped him to sleep! Running away from God can be a tiring thing to do! Where was Jonah hoping to run to? He knew without a doubt that God could see him wherever he went, there was nowhere to hide!

Action

Pray for any you know who are running from God at the moment. Pray especially for any you know who are just trying to avoid the God they know exists but are scared of meeting Him because He might change their lifestyle or send them off to a dark jungle on the other side of the world!

Also pray for those you know who have troubling sleeping.

Praise God that He gives sleep to his beloved (Psalm 127:2).

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