NOTES for Jon 1:7
Today one can often hear from believers: this is for your sins, God has punished you. But a loving God hardly punishes. Jesus Himself says to the disciples about the man born blind: "Neither he sinned, nor his parents, but..."
What then about Jonah? It turns out that God punished him for disobedience? Hardly.
How many people on earth live "not their own" life. We do something because "it is necessary," because a sense of duty or circumstances require it, and in the end we carry out the will of our parents. Sometimes we follow our whims, paying no attention to our deep desire, the one God planted in our heart like a little seed. God has a will for each of us. God created us for happiness, and fulfilling His will can make us happy. Even if, as with Jonah, this fulfillment is accompanied by great difficulties, both inward and outward.
The misfortunes that happen to Jonah are not punishment for disobedience, but help in fulfilling the will of a loving God. On paths far from the path the Lord has prepared for each of us, danger awaits us; on the path of fulfilling God's will, stones are removed so that we do not stumble.