Some of us may find the whole biblical story of Jonah to be well, fishy! After all, we like things to make sense. We want them to be provable, or at least probable. If you know much about the Bible, chances are you have already concluded that the heart of any of its stories requires faith. Jonah was a prophet of God. That means his life was dedicated to walking around to various communities and relaying God’s stories. He had a life purpose that meant he couldn’t just be his own man. He couldn’t just accept God’s assignments one day and choose to not accept them the next. His commitment was set. God’s the boss, Jonah is the worker, and there’s a job to be done.
We may already struggle with the Jonah story, because we recognize that we too, like to pick and choose. We like to stand tall for God sometimes and hide out other times. Like Jonah, we have excuses. Jonah didn’t want to go to the huge city of Nineveh because those people were pagans. They worshipped a fish-god named Dagan. In Jonah’s mind, they didn’t deserve to be saved by the real God who designed the whole universe. Jonah didn’t want those whacky people to have a chance, so he ran away. He went the opposite direction. He bought a ticket for the first vehicle going out of town and hopped on it. Whew! He thought he was safe now.
Most of us are not Jonah’s. We don’t live the life of a prophet. We don’t walk around and tell God-stories to everyone we meet. Perhaps we should, but we tend to want inspiration for those things, more than commitment. Jonah jumped on a ship to avoid his commitment to God. Where do we go?
The story goes on to share how Jonah caused problems for his shipmates because God sent a big storm to toss them about. Jonah confessed he might just be the problem, so they threw him overboard. On one hand, Jonah may well have thought he now had the ultimate excuse to not do what God asked of him, because he would be dead, drowned in the sea. Alas, the story doesn’t end there. Some kind of crazy big fish gulped the old boy down in one swallow and Jonah spent some time in the acid reflux cave of his captor. Discovering he was still alive, he decided to pray. I don’t know about you, but I would definitely be looking for some help. It was clear by then that nothing about that experience was going to be in Jonah’s hand.
Three days and three nights later, Jonah gets hurled up on the water’s edge and the fish goes away. No doubt Jonah was a sight for sore eyes as the locals might attest, but he decided when God asks you to do something, there’s really only one answer to give, “Yes, Lord.” Jonah went on and told God’s stories to those big fish worshippers in Nineveh and all one hundred and twenty thousand of them repented. That means they were saved. They became the people God wanted them to become.
Here’s the point! We are all meant to tell God’s stories. We committed to that the day we signed on to His team. It’s in our contract. Ignoring His call will only delay things. Running away and hiding will only mean He has to remind us that He’s the boss. People in the Nineveh’s around the world are still waiting to hear about God’s love. They are waiting for you and me. It’s always story time!