Real life couple Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell light up the screen in "Overboard (1987). Joanna Stayton (Goldie Hawn) is an idle rich woman who fell overboard her luxury yacht just to be rescued by a passing garbage barge. The comedy of the movie “Overboard” is that of error and the irony of unexpected change. Within a twinkle of an eye, Joanna went from being on the deck of a posh yacht to being on the deck of a garbage barge. She went from being Joanna, an idle rich wife, to being Annie, the assumed wife of a carpenter [Kurt Russell] and the "mother" of four unruly boys. Though hilarious in the movie, this is the type of change that we neither expect nor even think about. The story of Joanna is a comedy that will make anyone laugh, but the story of Jonah on the other hand is not a comedy to make anyone laugh. It is the tragedy of a disobedient prophet who changed the direction of God for his life with his own direction just to end up at a destination he had not planned to go. Unlike the Hollywood film “Overboard” (the story of Joanna), the Biblical story of the prophet Jonah has no luxury yachts but a merchant ship sailing to Tarshish, and there are no garbage barges but a certain "great fish" prepared by God to swallow up Jonah [Jonah 1: 1 – 15]. And if the story of Jonah were to be a comedy, it would be nothing more than a comedy of error. Yet, changing the direction of God for one's life with one's own direction is still nothing to laugh about.
Changing the direction of God with our own direction will always take us to places we never intended to go. Jonah is a story that represents self – determination and outright disobedience. In the words of the late Adrian Rogers, “Sin will always take you further than you wanted to go and will take you to a place you never intended to go.” In the story of Jonah, the sailors followed all the rules of sailing. One rule, even in ancient merchant marine, is for a captain to “jettison his cargo to save the lives of his sailors”. But just as throwing the wrong cargo overboard could not bring peace and calm to Jonah’s stormy seas, getting rid of the wrong things will never bring peace and calm to a life troubled by sin until sin is finally thrown overboard [Jonah 1: 5].
“Jonah had gone below deck and was lying there sound asleep” undisturbed by the tempest outside. Sometimes, the root of sin is not on an open deck where it could be easily thrown overboard like cargo on a merchant ship, but deeply situated below deck like Jonah in a sound sleep. And just like in Jonah’s case, until sin is picked up below deck and thrown into the sea, the sea is just going to get rougher and wilder. The only difference is that sin never sleeps like Jonah did. And sometimes it is not only the sinner that suffers but those around him suffer as well. If you are finding it difficult to reach your destination, you could be going in the wrong direction or you could be going in the right direction but with a Jonah on board your ship. Reluctantly, sailors “took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm” [v. 15]. For the sailors, throwing Jonah overboard meant getting to Tarshish safely, even at the expense of the loss of their cargo. But for Jonah, being thrown overboard meant a second chance at changing his own direction to following God’s direction [Jonah 3: 1 - 10]. Yet let us keep in mind that second chances are always exceptions and are never the rule. Then what is the connection between Gary Marshall's "Overboard" and the story of Jonah? It is in the irony of change. A sudden change in direction that neither character had expected. The story of Joanna is a comedy but the story of Jonah is not. Even if it were to be a comedy it would be nothing but a comedy of errors. The error of a preacher going from riding on a merchant ship to riding in the belly of a fish (that could be funny in a children's version of course). The error of one preacher of repentance becoming exceedingly angry at the fruit of his own preaching. And that is no laughing matter. "Overboard" is a love story. And to say the least that the story of Jonah is a love story cannot be disputed. It happens to be one of those unforgettable love stories in the Bible. Check this out. The Lord replied, "This plant grew up overnight and died overnight. You didn't plant it or make it grow. Yet you feel sorry for this plant. Shouldn't I feel sorry for this important city, Nineveh? It has more than 120,000 people in it as well as many animals. These people couldn't tell their right hand from their left" [Jonah 4: 10, 11]. That is a love story without questions. And I pray that you discover life the way God intends.
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We hold up our own progress waiting for our family and/or friends to come along. Sometimes you have to go alone. Actually most times you have to go alone and with out the help or approval of our social circle. The Bible says save yourself from this generation!