Jonah 1:5 Aware or Unaware

5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

The contrast between the sailors and Jonah couldn’t be more obvious in this verse. The sailors who are trained and seasoned at sea, are looking at the situation and basically freaking out. The storm they are facing is really bad and they are very aware. So they do what makes sense to them: they call out to their gods for help and reduce the load of the ship to increase the chance of surviving. Jonah, on the other hand, does absolutely nothing to help. In fact, he takes a nap as if going through a terrible storm is no big deal and seems unaware of the situation.

You may wonder how Jonah could be asleep in such a storm? To be that unaware must mean he was thoroughly exhausted. Exhausted not just physically from the journey but also emotionally and spiritually from disobeying God. Running from God can take a mighty toll on us. Not trusting God in some way, like Jonah, will create an invisible burden that will wear us down to the point where we find ourselves asleep and unaware at the worst times.

Are you feeling exhausted, unaware, or asleep in some area of life? Sometimes a nap is needed. But sometimes we need to ask God to make us aware of what is going on and begin to trust in His ways again.