I have always enjoyed the story of Jonah.
As a child I was fascinated by him being swallowed by a giant fish. As an adult
I have come to realize just how complex the story really is. Here are a few things
that have amazed me about the story.
First, we have this man of God who was
respected by the people, and yet, when God told him what he wanted Jonah to do,
he ran. He was determined to go as far away as possible. He thought he could leave
and be out of God’s sight. We know that God knows everything and he is everywhere.
What was Jonah thinking?
I have to say that I cannot be too hard on
Jonah, because I know what God’s word says. Yet, there are times I want to do
something else. It may be that I just feel too tired to pray, too lazy to help
my neighbor, or to scared to share God’s word. You may be shaking your head
right now, but I believe we all have our Jonah moments. Sometimes God steps in
and gets our attention.
A giant fish swallowed Jonah. Jesus said
he would make the apostles fishers of men, and he did. They listened to their
master. For Jonah, it was the fish that was the fisher of men.
He was in the belly of the fish for three
days. People will tell you the story is not true. How can a man survive in the
belly of a fish for three days. Let me tell you. Jesus spoke of Jonah and his
experience. I believe Jesus knew what he was talking about. I believe the
story.
The Ninevites repented. The people that Jonah
was afraid of did the opposite of what Jonah feared. They repented of their
sins, and this irritated Jonah. Too often we have our own expectations of
justice. I once had someone tell me she was praying for God to make the workman
on her roof fall off the roof. The man didn’t fall. We are called to love and
forgive.
There are other things in the story that amaze me, but these were just a
few of them. From this we can learn to respect God’s amazing power, to listen
to His commands, and to love and forgive others. The story of Jonah is bigger
than the fish that swallowed him.
Have a blessed day,
Layman Ray
