Obedience or Storm?

Reading the book of Jonah this morning, and this verse really stuck out to me:

Jon 1:12  And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

This is the story from the bible that we are all very familiar with. God speaks to Jonah to go into Nineveh and preach to them about their wickedness. Jonah doesn't find this call very appealing, as it could be dangerous and VERY unpleasant! These men of Nineveh are not exactly friendly folk. Not exactly the kind  of people you want to go and warn that their wickedness is not pleasing to God.  So as we know, Jonah jumps on a ship to go as far away from God's direction as he can. Maybe by changing location and destination, he will get lost amongst the people.... and slip away from God's orders. NOT! God of course knows where Jonah is, and never changes his mind about the commandment he gave him. You can sum up Jonah's actions in one word....DISOBEDIENCE!  So Jonah's calling follows him onto the ship. (You can NEVER run away from God's call on your life!) When the mighty storm rises and it looks like the ship is going under; the other men begin to cry out to their gods for help. Notice, Jonah is not! He knows God isn't hearing him in his time of disobedience. Now we come to verse 12. Jonah tells the men to cast him into the sea. He knows that it is HE that brought this storm upon the whole ship. The unfortunate part of disobedience is, that it brings storms into not only our lives, but also those around us! I have seen many families suffer because of the disobedience of one parent.  So I must be obedient to God. Not only for my sake, but for the sake of those around me! And obedience is not really a hard thing! What Jonah didn't understand is that God had already prepared the way for him! Revival was just around the corner for the city of Nineveh!  The city would repent and turn from their wicked ways. What an awesome God of mercy that we serve. Mercy... to give Jonah a second chance at obedience. Mercy......to allow Nineveh to repent and change their ways.  God, help me to be obedient to your directions; even when I don't like them! Now see I've talked about Jonah.....and I didn't even mention a whale :)