How many times have you been been in a pickle, a jam, a rock in a hard place, a  real doozy?  No matter what we do we can’t move away from the problem we are facing.  We try every logical way to fix the problem and to no avail.  We look at and work every alternative but we find ourselves still stuck with the problem.  After we have used up our creativity, our skill set, our mind and our muscle with the same result of not having solved the dilemma, we finally look to the Lord and say, “If you get me out of this one I’ll never do it again.”

I was reading in a book that is familiar to us, but most of the time we focus on the main character of the book and not focus on his counterparts.  I’m referring to Jonah and the whale.  He was running from what God wanted him to do and finds a boat going in the opposite direction.  He is fast asleep in the bottom of the boat, as the sailors are experiencing a perfect storm.  They have been in a lot of storms before, but never one of this size.  They throw cargo off the ship but see the storm beginning to tear the ship apart.  They cry out to their gods.  They wake Jonah up.  It then says, “The men did their best to row back to land.  But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.  then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life.  Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord have done as you pleased.”  Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.  At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.” Jonah 1:13-16

They tried everything before calling on the Lord to fix the problem.  When all their effort failed, they turned to the Lord and He calmed the sea.  Paul, an apostle of Christ, said in Romans 1 the no one seeks the Lord.  We have the tendency to rely on our own human effort first before turning to Him.

On this journey trials that come our way are hidden road maps placed by God to get our attention.  The raging sea did it for the sailors.  Looking at trials as God’s alarm clocks for us can move us to a closer connection with the Master and Solver of lives problems.