A Bad Thing for Jonah

In our story today, Pastor pointed out the response of the people on the ship to the storm. When the boat was in danger, when their lives were in jeopardy, the conclusion of the men was, "Oh my goodness, what have we done to deserve this?" They wanted to find the guilty party. They wanted to appease the gods who were ticked. Pastor said that this particular [bad] theology was common then, and actually it's still quite common now. When bad things happen, we tend to think God is zotting us for what we did. He was making the point that this is faulty theology, that God doesn't send bad things to punish us.

Okay, I understand.
BUT...
in this case

God really HAD sent the storm.

It really WAS because of Jonah's sin.


So I asked.
And the answer was:

Why did He send the storm? To harm? To exact payment for Jonah's sin? No. To save. God sent the storm to call Jonah to repentance that he might trust in God's mercy (and also to save the people of Ninevah). This storm was not punishment but a call to repentance. We too often stop at the first part, 'This is a result of my sin,' and think that God is angry with us. Even if something is a result of my sin, what's really happening is that God is saving us.




What was that Luther said, about how God puts to death that He might make us alive, that He brings us through hell to get us to heaven?