Jonah

We all know the story of Jonah. From our earliest years in Sunday School, we are told of the man who was swallowed by a great fish for three days and vomited onto land (little boys particularly enjoyed the last part). As we get older, we learn more of the details of this popular story. We learn why Jonah ends up in the fish. We learn where Jonah was supposed to go and where he was actually headed.

Perhaps we are most struck by the miracle of Jonah being swallowed by the fish. But what is the real miracle in the story of Jonah? The real miracle is not that Jonah was swallowed by a fish but rather that there was a fish exactly where Jonah was thrown overboard by his shipmates.

Jonah was to go to Nineveh with a word of prophecy for the people who would eventually enslave Israel. Instead, Jonah heads toward Tarshish, about as far from Nineveh as one can go. And where does the fish "deposit" Jonah? He is left in place to do what God had told him to do in the first place.

Even when we try to thwart God's plans, he makes sure that that his will is done.

Blessings
Mark