17 Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.
Jonah 1:17 (NLT)
THE WAY BACK TO GOD
I can guarantee that when Jonah bought his one-way ticket on the ship to Tarshish, he had no clue he would be swallowed by a huge fish and spend three days and nights there. To my knowledge, no one before Jonah—or since—has ever endured this experience and lived to talk about it. As we know, God works in miraculous—and mysterious—ways.
I can only imagine how foul it must have been inside that fish. After all, fish already smell a bit “fishy” when they’re expertly cleaned and prepared for my dinner plate at Red Lobster. But can you imagine living inside a fish for three days? As my dad would say, “Peeee-shew!”
For Jonah, this fish wasn’t just a smelly, slimy form of punishment. It was a means of transportation—an unforgettable one—to get Jonah back where God wanted to use him. It isn’t likely to appear in the form of an aquatic beast, but the Lord does the same for you and me when we have disobeyed Him: He provides a way back—to Him and to our divine assignment.
Typically, our response to the Lord’s correction is one of two extremes: we wallow in shame, or, in further defiance, we sever our relationship with Him. The Lord does not want us to pursue either of those options. Instead, He wants us to do three things:
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Confess – Honestly share where we missed the mark.
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Repent – A “churchy” word for simply going in the opposite direction of our sinful actions.
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Walk with Him!
The next time you find yourself as an outcast, bobbing up and down among the waves of your disobedience, know that God has provided a way back to Him! And be thankful it’s not in the belly of a whale!
C.A. Phillips serves as Communications Pastor and Director of Men’s Groups at NorthStar Church. He is a graduate of the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia, and he loves the Dawgs and the Atlanta Braves. He has two (grown) boys and lives in Kennesaw with his wife, Amy, and their German Shepherd, Abby.
