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Jonah Learns Lessons Inside Great Fish
by Greg Miller By Greg Miller 2015 The Sovereign Lord spoke to the prophet Jonah. The story begins in Jonah 1:1, KJV, Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Skipping to verse 17, Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. In the fishs belly, Jonah was very uncomfortable. He became extremely hungry. He didnt even see a small morsel of anything that looked appetizing enough to be an appetizer. He became very thirsty, but nothing was available to quench his thirst. His lips became sticky, his lips dry and parched. The darkness was worse than the hunger and thirst. The absence of light was unbearable. The darkness is so thick, I can almost feel it, he thought. Confinement to what seemed like an eternal prison cell was the worst aspect of Jonahs whale belly experience. I wish I had obeyed God and preached to the people of Nineveh, he thought. Jonah lost all sense of hours and seconds, but as soon as he had served his sentence as dictated by the Sovereign Lord, God spoke to the great fish, which vomited Jonah out on dry land. Thank you Lord, Jonah prayed. I couldnt have survived another hour inside that beast. You should have obeyed me, the Lord replied. I know. I got so hungry I was tempted to eat some of the things I bumped into, but I managed to resist those temptations. Did you get thirsty? The thirst was worse than the hunger, but the liquids down there werent fit for human consumption. Dark, too, huh? Darker than the darkest night, Sir. Did you feel free in there? No, Sir. I felt like I was confined in the worst prison in the world. Did you learn anything while you were inside the fish? Yes, Sir. I learned that in obeying you there is quenching of hunger and thirst. There is also light and freedom. And disobedience is filled with hunger and thirst that cant be satisfied, darkness where there is no light, and incarceration where there is no freedom! To contact the writer of this column about speaking engagements, including Christian Comedy Fundraising Outreaches, Christian Creativity Seminars and/or puppet ministry, please email [email protected]. By Greg Miller 2018 Greg is retired from the Elizabethton STAR Newspaper, after working there for almost 23 years. He now freelances for the paper. Contact email address is [email protected], also facebook.com/kidcool4jesus. Available for speaking engagements/other ministries. Jesus is Lord Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |