🌊 When the Storm Is Because of Me | Jonah 1 Devotional (7-Step QT)
7-Step QT Notes
1. 🙏 Quiet Time
Pause.
Take a deep breath.
Ask God to help you see His compassion even in the middle of human failure, guilt, and blame.
2. 📅 June 21, 2026
Today’s passage reminds us:
God’s compassion is greater than our failure, and His mercy still shines even when the storm is “because of me.”
3. ✝️ Jonah 1:11-16
As the storm grew stronger, the sailors asked Jonah how to calm the sea. Jonah admitted the storm came because of him and told them to throw him into the sea. They tried to row back to land, but failed. After crying out to the LORD not to hold them guilty for innocent blood, they threw Jonah into the sea. The sea became calm, and they feared the LORD, offered sacrifice, and made vows.
4. 📖 Key Verse
He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” (v. 12)
5. 📝 Reflection
Imagine that there is an employee on your workplace team who continually causes problems. If you were the leader, what would you do? Most leaders would probably consider transferring that person to another team or even dismissing them, especially if they were damaging team morale and failing to produce results. It may seem that without that one person, both the leader and the team members would work harder and achieve better outcomes.
If you were a team member, what would you do? Many team members might give that person a low score in a peer evaluation or make them the subject of gossip. It may seem that without that person, the team bonus would increase and the team would become more united. Although this is only a hypothetical situation, worldly solutions often seek first to remove the person causing the problem rather than to help that person be restored.
At first, Jonah hid from the captain and sailors that he was the cause of the violent storm. Only after the lot fell on him did he confess that he was the one responsible for the disaster. Yet the response of the captain and sailors is somewhat surprising. They did not immediately throw Jonah into the sea as he had requested. Instead, they rowed hard, trying to return to land in order to save him.
Since they were Gentiles, the idea of offering human life in a religious context may not have been entirely unfamiliar in the ancient world. Yet why did they still try so hard to return to land? Of course, after they eventually threw Jonah into the sea and saw the waters become calm, they greatly feared the LORD, offered a sacrifice, and made vows. But that was the result, not the reason they first tried to return to land.
Dear beloved believers, if even the captain and sailors in the midst of disaster showed compassion to Jonah, would God not show compassion to Nineveh, which was heading toward judgment? (cf. Jonah 4:11) Yes, today’s QT passage indirectly shines light on the compassion of God.
God’s compassion is never dimmed by the reality of “because of me.” Rather, even despite “because of me,” God’s compassion shines upon the whole world. Therefore, from today, let us stop blaming one another by saying, “because of me, because of you, because of us.” Instead, let us look with eyes of faith to the God who loves us despite our failures.
Then we will joyfully experience that our help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. (cf. Psalm 121:2)
6. 💬 What does this passage speak to you today?
- Is there an area of my life where I need to honestly say, “This is because of me”?
- Am I blaming someone else instead of seeking God’s mercy and wisdom?
- Who is God calling me to treat with compassion rather than rejection?
- How can I look to the LORD today instead of being controlled by guilt, blame, or fear?
7. 🙏 Prayer
Our heavenly Father, thank You for Your compassion that is greater than my failure.
Help me to confess honestly where I have run from You.
Teach me not to live in blame, guilt, or fear, but to look to You with eyes of faith.
Give me a heart that shows compassion to others, even when they cause pain or trouble.
May I experience with joy that my help comes from You, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Amen.
Scriptures
📖 (Jonah 1:11-16, ESV).
11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.
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