Rerouted: 30 Days Through the Book of JonahSample

What Are the Chances?

Claire Foxx

Jonah 1:7

Schools and offices closed as screens warned of flash flooding. The chance of rain was 100% — until a few cloudy hours passed with no precipitation and the sun reemerged, as confused as the rest of my hometown.

Weather is hard to predict. Even our educated guesses are still guesses. In this sense, we can relate to the sailors who "cast lots" during a storm in Jonah 1:7, trying to guess "on whose account this evil has come upon us."

Casting lots was an ancient way of seeking supernatural insight. Historians aren't sure what a “lot” was, but diviners would throw them and interpret how they landed — like flipping a coin and asking God to choose heads or tails. God sometimes used lots to reveal His plans or judgments (Leviticus 16:8; Joshua 18:6); however, pagans cast lots to consult false gods, as in today's key verse.

Imagine the chaos as each sailor “cried out to his god” (Jonah 1:5) over roaring wind and waves: Who will save us? They could only guess. The captain even begged Jonah to pray alongside them, hoping some higher power might intervene (Jonah 1:6). Lots were their last resort — if they couldn’t guess a god to rescue them, they’d at least ask who caused the storm.

Meanwhile, Jonah, who was fleeing from the one true God, remained silent. Jonah didn’t join in the prayer, and it seems the sailors cast lots without him.

But God didn’t need enthusiasm from Jonah or faith from the sailors to fulfill His plan. By divine providence, “the lot fell on Jonah” (Jonah 1:7), echoing Proverbs 16:33: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lᴏʀᴅ.”

What a powerful reminder that there are no exceptions to God’s sovereignty — not even the desperate guesswork of unbelieving sailors, whose lives He ultimately saved (Jonah 1:15-16). Centuries later, Persian persecutors cast lots against God’s people (Esther 3:7), and Roman soldiers divided Jesus’ garments by casting lots (Matthew 27:35) — but this, too, was all part of His divine plan.

The God of Jonah’s lot is the same God who raised Jesus from the dead, sovereign over our best guesses and our mistakes. He leaves nothing to chance. So when storms come, let’s call out to Him.