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He boarded a ship to flee from a mission he had been challenged to accept. When the ship was some distance out a great wind was hurled upon the sea, accompanied with a mighty tempest, so that the ship was about to break up. Conceiving he was the cause of the turbulent weather, he instructed the men of the ship to throw him into the sea, "for I know," said he, "it is because of me this great tempest has come upon you." So they took him and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

After having been thrown into the rolling billows, he acknowledged his mistake of having fled from the mission he had been challenged to accept and was miraculously rescued from the tomb of the sea by One whose strength was greater than his. Following his rescue, he exclaimed, "I called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me." He went on to accept the challenge and the mission from which he had attempted to flee, and what followed was a complete victory.—Book of Jonah.

The story of Jonah very fittingly depicts my message. The sea of life is encompassed with tempestuous waves. To one degree or another, we all are entangled. Even the great apostle Paul, an ambassador of Jesus, faced with life's turbulent billows, cried out, "O wretched man that I am! Who on earth can set me free from the clutches of my own sinful nature?" (Rom. 7:24).

Paul happily concluded Jesus was his Deliverer. The apostle was drowning in a sea of problems—trials, uncertainties, persecution, accusations from false brothers, but he knew where relief could be found and how he could be rescued from the hostile forces that surrounded him. The Lord was his lifejacket! Otherwise, he indeed would have drowned.

With many the tempest is raging in the form of frustrations, anxiety, immorality, domestic and social distresses, drugs and alcohol, adultery and homosexuality. These raging billows stifle one's perception, breed mental perplexities, and create an attitude of apathy and a spirit of dormancy. The conscience becomes a sea of fire and brimstone, and the mind is void of logic and rationale. Those of us who are confronted with these billows ought to call to the Lord out of our distress, as Jonah did. He will answer us!

The problems arose when we turned our faces in the direction of disaster. Like Paul, we roll in the raging billows every day. And like James, we all make many mistakes (James 3:2). But we can discover the "lifejacket" that will gently lift us daily out of the depths of despair and lovingly lower us upon the beaches of tranquility. That "lifejacket" is Jesus! He is our compass, our sense of direction, our purpose and mission in life. Paul's cup was running over with joy even while he experienced a state of distress! He affirmed on one occasion that when he was the weakest physically, he was the strongest spiritually.

In another place, Paul expressed a desire to go home to be with the Lord. He did not feel, as many of us do, that Earth was his Heaven. He knew he was about to take a journey to a city with everlasting foundations.

We may feast upon the richest of foods, wear the finest of apparel, live in an elegant home, and have a goodly number of friends and celebrities. But these are of no avail when we consider they cannot provide a true peace of mind, real happiness, and genuine security. These heavenly blessings are not available in what we possess. They are available only in the Man Jesus. So reach out for Him. He is not far from any of us! "For it is in Him we live, move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28).