We’ve all heard the Sunday School story about Jonah and the whale: a man who was swallowed by a whale and lived… but why?
This story shows us the extent of God’s mercy and grace, as well as the circumstances of disobeying God’s commands. This doesn’t mean if we ignore an instruction from God, we will be eaten by a whale; but this does show us that our disobedience has great consequences.
God’s instruction to Jonah was to take the Gospel to one of the worst enemies of Israel- Assyria. When God called Jonah to go to these people, he ran (“But Jonah ran from the Lord,” 1:3). When God gives us directions, sometimes, like Jonah, we may want to run the other way; pretending like we didn’t hear Him. Whether it be out of fear, stubbornness, etc- running from God always gets us into worse trouble. We cannot seek God and run from Him at the same time. It is far better to just obey God from the beginning. Worse trouble for Jonah meant being swallowed by a whale. But God knew His plans for Jonah would still be carried out, He just had to get his attention.
In 2:1, Jonah tells us that “in my distress I called to the Lord and He answered me.” Jonah was experiencing the repercussions of his disobedience. He made a promise to God to carry out whatever purpose God had placed on his life, no matter what. (And then God commanded the whale to spit Jonah out.) We can learn so much from this Bible story character.
Jonah probably felt unqualified to do the work God was instructing him to do. Sometimes we all may feel a little disqualified due to our past or feeling “unequipped”. But let me remind you that each of us are asked by God Himself to carry out His work in some sort. He has a pre-ordained purpose for each of our lives, and our God does not make mistakes.
He is calling you on purpose, for a purpose- and you are the right candidate for the calling. Listen to God’s instruction- and unlike Jonah, step into obedience when God first speaks to avoid the disaster of disobedience.
About the Author
Ashley Thrift≫ ≫ Ashley is a happy homemaker; a proud wife of her handsome and hard-working high-school sweetheart, and a very blessed mom of three amazing, crazy and energetic kiddos. In the good ole' southern upstate of SC, where Ashley is from, you will find her devoting herself to Jesus first, being a wife and mama second, and striving to be an overall woman of proverbs 31. When she is not running frantically off of coffee (chasing toddlers or carpooling; rushing to the the dance studio or ball fields), she is settled intimately in her Bible listening for the whispers of God. She also enjoys small group Bible studies with her mama friends, writing to serve God through her church writing team (NewSpring.cc) and her blog <www.p31shelaughs.com>, and still dating her husband even after seventeen years. She wears strength and dignity with laughter in her heart as she trusts God's faithfulness which has already assured her works all things to his glory (Proverbs 31:25). She knows that her story is being written by the one Almighty, and by His glory she tries to embrace what He is teaching her through each chapter- living on grace.
