Perhaps as a child you heard the story of Jonah and the whale. Maybe in Sunday school, or from one of those colorful children’s books (anyone remember the Arch books?) with big-eyed illustrations and simplified, rhyming lessons.

Jonah tells the story of a prophet who tried to run from God, was swallowed by a great fish, lived in its belly for three days, and was spit out on dry ground. But have you ever actually read the story of Jonah directly from the Word of God? As adults we can learn so much from Jonah. Jonah is more than the story of a disobedient man who was swallowed by a great fish. Jonah is a story of God’s love for us and how He moves when we run, when we surrender, and when we obey.

God moves in the storm

In chapter 1, God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh. But Jonah doesn’t want to go. So he runs in the opposite direction. He literally buys a ticket to Tarshish (which some scholars believe people in those days thought was the edge of the world) and boards a ship to escape the presence of the Lord. As a believer Jonah knew trying to escape the presence of the Lord was an exercise in futility. But he still tried.

And honestly, haven’t we all done something like that?
Haven’t we second-guessed sharing an encouraging word?
Haven’t we delayed making a phone call to someone God placed on our heart?
Haven’t we buried ourselves in busyness to avoid doing what He called us to do?

So Jonah ran. And God sent a storm. Not to destroy him, but to protect him and redirect him. God sent a storm to disrupt the path Jonah was never meant to take. Sometimes, when we stay silent or resist the nudge, God sends a storm. An unexpected illness. A job loss. A setback. A force that brings us to our knees and points us back to the sovereignty of God.

God moves through others

The storm is raging. Jonah is asleep on the boat. The sailors, who were nonbelievers, were awake and crying out to their gods. They’d even thrown their cargo overboard. The captain of the ship cannot believe Jonah is asleep while all this turmoil is around them. It echoes another story—Jesus asleep on a boat while a storm was raging.

When the sailors realized Jonah was the cause of the storm, and the only way to quiet the sea was to throw him overboard, they prayed. Did you get that? These unbelieving sailors cried out to a God they didn’t even know. While Jonah was running from God, they were running toward Him.

In Jonah’s disobedience, God used the storm to minister to others. The storm shook the ship. It startled the sailors. It became the very thing God used to show His power, His mercy, and His great love for us. Even in the storm, God was working for good. As Paul reminds us, all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

And after the sea calmed? They feared the Lord exceedingly, offered a sacrifice, and made vows to Him (Jonah 1:16).

God moves through creation

The chapter ends with provision. Jonah is tossed overboard; however, God had already made provision.

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah (Jonah 1:17).

The fish wasn’t the punishment. It was the rescue. Even in our disobedience, sometimes the thing that swallows us up—the thing that takes us off guard, the setback we didn’t see coming—is the very thing God uses to save us.

Now it’s your turn

What’s your Tarshish? What are you running from?

Can you see how God might still be working in the middle of it?