Most stories end with, “and they all lived happily ever after.” We want to believe that all people who know God are nice.  Take fifteen minutes and Geico can save you 15% or more on car insurance. As you can see, life is not always like that.

It didn’t end in Jonah’s favor and he wanted out.

Jonah 4:1-3

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.  So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.  Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”

Jonah knew personally that God was gracious and would forgive any transgression.  God doesn’t change, but the Jonah’s of the world need change. They need to quit thinking about “moi” and start thinking about God’s character.

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Let’s change so God can be honored before a lost world.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Equality comes from God, not man. One of the statements of the U.S. Declaration of Independence says this: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Jonah, throughout this book, is characterized by prejudice. That character trait has no business in the child of God. One way or another God would work to deliver His prophet from that destructive opinion.

On the other hand, God loved the Ninevites and desired that they be saved from destruction.

This is also a New Testament message.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Are there groups that you would never bother with? Give them a chance.

Think about it.

Gary

You know the feeling: the mouth gets dry and there is a taste of salt in your throat. Wishing you were dead, you hang on both sides of the flush.  This happens to me about every ten years and I would rather have a root canal done without anesthetic. It is described as a forceful discharge of stomach contents better known as vomiting. Something down there just has to come out.

This is what happened to that famous historical fish. Here is what came up: seaweed; bones of small fish; unrecognizable, undigested matter; bile and then Jonah. Someone said there is nothing to make you sicker than a backslidden prophet.

Jonah 2:10

So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

That fish was glad to get rid of that resident and get back to what great fish do.

Do you ever have the feeling you’re the cause of someone getting sick because of your actions? Maybe it’s time for a change of scenery and God is going to provide it. Just hang on because God can even tell a fish what to do in a case like yours.

Isaiah 43:16-19

Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Some old farmers were discussing the best position for prayer. Some said on their knees; some said standing while others said it didn’t matter. One weather-beaten man said his most effective prayer was said while he was stuck upside-down in a well.

God just expects us to talk from our heart, but sometimes the position is created by Him. Jonah sure could pray in chapter two. This is how he ended the prayer:

Jonah 2:7-9

“When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord;
And my prayer went up to You,
Into Your holy temple.

“Those who regard worthless idols
Forsake their own Mercy.

 But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay what I have vowed.

Has the situation you’re in caused you to cry out to God? I hope it’s not a fish story.

1 Timothy 2:8

I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting;

Think about it.

Gary

I don’t know if it was the first Maytag, but Jonah spent three days and three nights inside a specially-designed washing machine. The agitator was more than he could bear. It only had one cycle. His skin was wrinkled and his person was a wash. This was all designed to trigger a memory and make Jonah think.

Jonah 2:5-7
The engulfing waters threatened me,
    the deep surrounded me;
    seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
    the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
    brought my life up from the pit.

“When my life was ebbing away,
    I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
    to your holy temple.

Are you finding your life filled with agitation? Maybe, it’s coming from God.

You don’t have to go through a wash cycle to get clean and be presentable. Trust and obey because there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.

Think about it.

Gary

How would God go about getting a rebellious Old Testament prophet to pray? The short answer is – doing whatever is necessary to hold him accountable to his calling. God has many choices when it comes to discipline.

Jonah 2:1-4

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly.  And he said:

“I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,
And He answered me.

“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
And You heard my voice.
For You cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the floods surrounded me;
All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight;
Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’

I’d like to take a pass on what Jonah went through, but I do know about accountability.

Romans 14:12

So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Think about it.

Gary

Fish stories are always questioned. It has been told that that’s what my grandfather did when he listened to a friend who was telling such a tall tale. The friend had bragged that the fish was so large that he struggled to bring it in.

My grandfather said, “That’s nothing. I was fishing once and I pulled in a kerosene lantern and it was lit.”

The friend said, “Now, Tom, that’s impossible.” My grandfather said. “Well, you take six inches off that fish and I will blow out the wick on my lantern.”

Jonah was not swallowed by a whale, but by a fish specifically designed for the wayward prophet to come to his senses. A man could survive for three days and three nights in this divinely-prepared-submarine.

Jonah 1:17

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Has God prepared any unusual circumstances for you and how long did it take for you to realize it was from Him?

Give it some thought.

Gary