In The Same BoatSampl

What Gods are You Crying Out To?

You’ve heard the term ‘drink of choice’- that one drink that brings calm, comfort, a sense of happiness and contentment– today I want to talk about your god of choice. 

Jonah's God, Jehovah, Yahweh, Adonai, El Roi is a pretty big deal. Jonah is His mouthpiece, His prophet to the people. And yet in this story, Jonah's God was not necessarily his first choice in times of distress. In fact, as this minor prophetic book opens, we see the main character hightailin' himself away from God.. Not exactly the best way to start off a story, and yet as we find in today's devo, the prophet is not alone in his running to the wrong things. 

Highlighting one of the most hard-hitting sections of Jonah chapter 1 is verse 5 (ESV), “Then the mariners were afraid and each cried out to his own god”. This takes place in the middle of the storm, Jonah is <conveniently> down in the hold snoozing away while the rest of the sailors were doing their darndest to not sink. They were scared, anxious about the waves, worried for their ship, fearful for their very lives. 

Scripture tells us they prayed, no– they “cried out” to their various gods. Notice the little ‘g’ here. They ran to what they knew, what they felt comfortable with, what they thought could bring them peace…. Except those prayers didn’t work.

I won’t belabor the point here except to say this- When you are anxious, stressed, fearful, worried, or overcome by the storms in your life what god(s) do you cry out to? It’s a hard-hitting question. What god brings you joy, comfort, relaxation, stress-relief…. peace? What or who do you run to in times of angst?

Gods (little g) can take the form of many things or people– the obvious examples could be drugs, alcohol, gambling… however what about our spouse? Our best friend? Work? Sleep? Shopping? Oils? Google? Books? A certain game, a tv series, or a favorite celebrity? Even seemingly innocuous diversions can be a god in our world if we run (i.e. cry out) to it or them first (or too much!)

Full honestly here, I've come to find that my particular god of choice is usually myself. I run to me far too often, far too much, I am far too self-reliant. I can do it, I’ve got this, I can handle it, I don’t need help. 

I am my own little god. I think in many ways, we all are.

But as you probably know, we're not terribly good at fixing things usually. We're no good at saving ourselves in the storms of life anymore than the gods that we cry out to. Only big G God can truly come to our aid and calm the storm.

REFLECTION:

So, dear one, be in prayer…. Who or What god do you cry out to? Ask the Father to help you discern what has an unhealthy placement in your life and then start dismantling the position of prominence it's been set on. There can only be one God... One who can answer you in a meaningful and effective way in times of trouble. 

Run to Him dear ones!