Jonah

July 1

Jonah 1:11-2:10

The bottom of the ocean

Now that the sailors knew that the storm at sea was Jonah’s fault, they asked him what they should do for the storm to stop.

“Throw me into the sea,” he said, “and it will be calm.”

At first, the sailors did not want to throw Jonah overboard, but when the storm grew worse, they picked him up and threw him into the sea.

At once, the sea became calm and the sailors offered a sacrifice to the Lord.

The Lord had planned for a huge fish to swallow Jonah—and from deep inside the fish, he prayed to God.

For three days and nights, Jonah was trapped inside the dark stomach of the fish. Then the Lord heard Jonah’s prayer and made the fish spit him out onto a beach.

Once again, the Lord told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh to preach to the people; so Jonah obeyed and went to Nineveh.

Can we actually run away or hide from God?

What made Jonah decide to run away? As a prophet, he should have known better. So why did he not want go to Nineveh and preach there as God had told him to?

In Jonah’s mind, the people of Nineveh were enemies—they were heathens that did not deserve God’s forgiveness. Jonah thought that if he took a ship going in the opposite direction that nothing, and no one, could get him to Nineveh. Soon it would be ‘impossible’ for him to get to Nineveh, and he would be so far away that his conscience wouldn’t even bother him.

When Adam disobeyed God he also thought he could go and hide so that God wouldn’t find him. It is foolish to hide or run from God: He knows exactly where we are anyway. When we decide to run from God’s loving arms we are sure to run into BIG trouble!

Verse for today

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? Psalm 139:7