Fish Story

10.07.09

Jonah 1:17

"But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights."

What does it take to get our attention sometimes? For some people noticing things comes easier than others. Some people really need to be smacked in the head before they will see what's best for them. When I was about ten years old I loved doing stuff that my parents would classify as not really well thought through. We had a space in our basement that only I could fit in and I would climb in there and hide and scare the garbage out of my mother. She used to tell me all the time not to hide where she couldn't find me, but I ignored her. I would also pop out from time to time and watch her jump in fear. I was a little bit of a devil as a kid.

Much like any other small kid I was also a bit of a daredevil. Mix this with the desire to go against what my parents told me to do and it made for some pretty amazingly stupid outcomes. I can remember one time being at the park where my friends and I all hung out and having all my friends egging me on to jump a ridge by the slides, with my bike. Now as an adult I can look back on this see how absolutely dumb it was, but back than there was nothing that was going to stop me, not even my mother driving by and warning me not to try it.

Well needless to say I ignored my own mother's warning and jumped the ridge. (If only I hadn't ignored the warning voice of a loving parent.) Well I should clarify that I didn't so much jump as much as I gained speed and plummeted six feet doing a complete flip and landing on the back of my neck with the weight of a Huffy mountain bike baring down on my shoulders. It was not my proudest moment. Not only was my pride hurt but my ego was torn, shattered and bruised by the fact that I just didn't pay attention to my mother's voice, trying it's best to keep me safe and far out of harm's reach.

I have been studying the book of Jonah a little bit lately and I have been intrigued by some of the way that the book is worded. If you don't know the story God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach to the folks there about Him. Jonah is reluctant to listen to God because of the type of people that live in Nineveh. The really surly type lived there and Jonah wanted no part in risking his life. So he tries to escape by taking passage on a boat. Well there was no hiding from God and the boat was hit with a major storm which led to the crew throwing Jonah overboard and than something cool happens. The NIV version says the Lord "provided a great fish" to swallow up Jonah and he than spends three days and nights on what was I'm sure a wonder cruisee inside the belly of the fish.

The word "provided" is interesting to me because we do not think that God would do something like that all the time. We expect Him to fix things with miracles and heal without thinking, but when He provides us time, like he did Jonah, it gives us time to realize what God truly wants for us. Sometimes we get caught in what refer to as ruts, where we think that God is not listening or God is angry at us. The question we have to ask ourselves, is it possible that God "provides" us with time to sit back and realize that He has a better plan for our lives? Is it possible that He wants us to come to the conclusion that His way is better than our way.

It goes on in the book of Jonah to say that Jonah eventually gets out of the "great fish" and agrees to go to Nineveh and do what God had originally intended for him to do, and that is preach to the folks of Nineveh about a great, awesome and powerful God. It took God "providing" a great fish for Jonah to sit and realize that God's desire was better than his own.

What do you thinkt he first day or so of that fish frenzy looked like for Jonah emotionally. Probably started with fear, and than moved to anger at God, than understanding and than praise. Does this look similar to your relationship with God? Do you ever experience a rainbow of emotion in your relationship with the Lord? Do you think it's possible that God "provides" us today with opportunity to sit and think about how His plan is bigger than ours?


Thought question: What is your "great fish"? What is God putting in your life to try and get you to see that His plan is bigger and better? Where do you have sit and think about for "three days and nights" before you realize that God wants to use everything for His glory?