¹² “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”- Jonah 1:12

The famous Olympic athlete Jesse Owens once said, ““The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself, the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us, that’s where it’s at.” Jesse battled many adversities in his journey to the top of his sport. Amazingly, he states that the most important battle is not external. Rather, the most important “gold medals” are the ones that come from within.

I would give Jonah a gold medal for his actions in today’s verse. After deliberately running from God, Jonah offers his life to save the crew. The internal battle in Jonah must have been enormous. Jonah’s “good” side wins out as he offers his life as a sacrifice.

What battles are within you? Jonah’s decision to sacrifice himself came after he made perhaps the biggest mistake of his life. It is never too late to make good decisions. Sometimes our battles inside feel like a slippery slope. One mistake leads to two mistakes leads to three mistakes and so on. But, Jonah here shows us that God asks that we make the best decisions we can in the moment. This is the beauty of grace through Jesus Christ. We will never be perfect, but if strive to be like Jesus in every moment we do not have to continue to make bad decisions.