Faith Forward Future By Chad VeachMostra

Jonah, like many of us, made a huge mistake. His mistake came in the form of deliberately disobeying God. . . . Because of Jonah’s mistake, the next part of his story took a dark turn. “Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up” (Jonah 1:4). This storm was so aggressive that the fishermen on the boat noticed something was wrong. They were trying to discover who was responsible for this calamity (v. 7). They knew this wasn’t any ordinary storm. This storm was caused by someone’s wrongdoing. Somebody was to blame. Jonah in his rebellion had made the rain, wind, and waves come. I think most of us have been in a similar boat. It’s one thing to experience a trying season of life, like a health issue or a death in your family. It’s quite another thing when your storm or trial is your own fault. Sometimes the wrong decisions we make on the way to our dreams, or the things we do when we try to accomplish something our way, lead to our destruction and even threaten the destruction of those around us. And sometimes it’s by God’s grace that there even is a storm. Often, storms we face are not to hurt us but to help us. They cause our choices to narrow until all we have left is God. He’s ready to intercede in our worst moments so that he can get our attention. And God uses all of this to lead us to his great plan for each of our lives. . . . No matter what wrong decisions you’ve made or detours you’ve taken on your journey with God, it’s never too late to lift up your voice to him. Jonah realized in the belly of the fish that he had messed up; he had done the exact opposite of God’s will. You might be realizing, “I messed up my marriage,” “I hurt my family,” “I looked at something I never should have,” “I went too far,” “I said dishonest words,” or “I did something I said I would never do again.” Jonah’s story is evidence that these kinds of missteps don’t disqualify you from God’s dream for your life.