Jonah 1:9-11 ASV and Jonah 1:9-16 ASV

Jonah was honest and admited to the sailors that it was his fault there was a great storm. He told them that the only way they could stop the storm, was to throw him over board, but they refused and try to row hareder to try to outrun the storm. Although their help to Jonah might at first glance seems a good thing and it seems that it is rewarding his honesty, it shows that, if you are being desobedient to God, he will not stop the storm. Have you ever try to help someone who is running from what God is asking them to do? I have, and as long as they are running from it, the storms only grow stronger and you can pray with everything you have in you without seeing any changes and it might even bring storms into your own life, it's like God saying, "get out of the way of my calling to this person." So, eventhough we think we are helping, we might be hhidering God's work instead. It might be better to teel that person to listne to what God is telling them and to obey, a gentler way to throw them in the ocean :)

God did use Jonah's desobedience to demonstrate his great power and to bring the sailors to Him. He taught Jonah to be obedient and showed His great power to unbelievers and they believed in Him. Although this is a great demonstration of God's great power and mercy, we would spare ourselves a great deal of hurt if we were obedient from the beginning. I have no doubt that God would've reach those sailors some other way :)