I Don’t Want To Go!
Jonah 1:17
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. (KJV)
There is a lot of discussion regarding this fish Jonah was swallowed up by. It is commonly said that Jonah was swallowed up by a whale. Some say that a whale is not capable of swallowing up something as large as a man, because even though it is a gigantic mammal, it still has a very small stomach. Therefore, they say, it could not have been a whale.
Folks who argue about the type of “Fish” that swallowed Jonah, totally overlook the first part of the sentence that says God prepared the fish! This was a special “Fish” designed to swallow Johan and keep him in its belly for three days. Ordinarily no one would be able to survive inside the stomach of a beast, due to a lack of oxygen, digestive fluids, etc. It would be certain death, especially for a period of three days. Now I don’t claim to be a “fish stomach specialist”. It simply is hard for me to fathom anyone being inside the belly of a large fish of any kind and surviving. The thing that convinces me of the validity of the event is the fact that God prepared the creature.
In an old Disney cartoon, Mickey Mouse is playing Jonah and gets swallowed up by the “whale” and has a dining table, a chair, a candle for light, etc. I can tell you that nothing like that was in that fish. It was a terrible place. It left Jonah crying out to God in repentance (Jonah 2:1). God heard his cry and the fish spit him out on dry land. Jonah’s response to his feet hitting dry land after being inside the creature for three days was to run to the thing God had called him to do and that was to go to Nineveh and preach to the sinners there, a message of deliverance!
Sometimes God calls us to do something, and we rebel, and decide on our own to go the other way just like Jonah. Maybe the thing seems to scary, or too difficult, or simply something that we feel that we do not want to do, and we fail to cooperate with God. In Jonah’s case he did not want to go down to a strange place and start preaching God’s message in the streets, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown”.
The result of the preaching, however, was not that it was destroyed. The result was that the people repented and they were spared! This was not what Jonah expected. God’s word accomplished its purpose and the people were delivered from destruction. If you read the rest of the story from the book of Jonah, you will see that Jonah was not very happy about the result of his message. He felt that it made him look like a false prophet possibly, since his message was that in forty days Nineveh would be overthrown. He wanted God to destroy them but God in His grace, spared them.
You and I sometimes may find ourselves in a situation where the task we feel called to do may seem to be too large and daunting, and we decide that either God must have made a mistake or that we simply want to refuse to do it and “Go the other way”. God has a way of getting our attention and getting us on His desired path. It is always easier to listen to the Lord and let Him lead you. Remember this dear ones…God will never lead where He cannot keep you. With every call He gives provision. That provision may be physical or spiritual or both (usually). Regardless He will not leave you hanging if He sent you in the first place.
Our God in his grace will always lead you down the path to blessing for you and others. He will use anyone who makes themselves available. You must be prepared and willing. Want God to use you? Prepare your heart in the Word and prayer, and then look for the open door.
One thing that Jonah did not see in his situation was that his “event” and bout with death would later be used to describe Christ spending three days and nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40). Jesus was in the grave three days before being resurrected and Jonah was in the belly of the “Great Fish” for three days. His adventure would picture the powerful event of the resurrection! Even our humanity can sometimes be a source of blessing to others.
When God calls you, don’t run the other way…go where He leads. The words of the old hymn still ring out today, “Where He leads me I will follow”. Let these words be your anthem. Don’t be like Jonah and say I don’t want to go! Blessing awaits you at your called destination.
Blessings!
Bro. Tommy
