Jonah & the Whale, perhaps with a table & chair inside

My church has been talking about Jonah for the past couple of weeks. Jonah is considered one of the minor prophets, which is kind of a misnomer when you think about it, because what's minor about going into evil populations and preaching to people who don't want to hear it? And there's not really anything minor about being swallowed up by a great fish, wouldn't you say?

You know the story-- God tells Jonah what he needs to do so the people of Nineveh will turn back to God. Jonah says I don't think so! and promptly runs in the opposite direction, hops on a ship, gets caught in the perfect storm, is thrown overboard, swallowed by a great fish, at which point he decides it might be an okay idea to pray & repent, and then God has the great fish vomit Jonah out on to dry land 3 days later. (Literally, the Bible says "vomited.") Jonah goes to preach in Nineveh like God wanted him to in the first place "and the people of Nineveh believed in God."

I don't know about you, but the way I learned this story, it was all about the great fish and how Jonah was in the belly for three days. I have this distinct image in my head of Jonah
in profile, inside a whale with a little chair and a candle burning on a table. Seriously? A table and chair and candle? Fantastic Sunday school cartoons, let me tell you. And the idea of living inside of a whale-- which by the way, it wasn't necessarily-- was considered the worst part of the whole thing for Jonah.

The focus was never on Jonah running away from God, or God redeeming the whole situation with Jonah AND the people of Nineveh. It was more like-- the whale swallowed him, God saved him when he made the fish vomit Jonah out. Jonah and the Whale. La de dah de dah.

But did you ever consider the fact that when the great fish swallowed Jonah, it saved him?

Jonah had been thrown overboard in the middle of a massive storm. In the ocean. Homeboy was drowning, facing death in the face and sea water in the lungs. And God sent a great fish to save him. Oh sure, he had to hang out in the belly of a fish (ew- the stench!) for three days, but he was alive, and the great fish conveniently dropped Jonah off on dry land.

God sends the fish. The fish saves his life. Jonah preaches. Nineveh is saved.

So what's your great fish?

I have been through some situations that seem like the worst possible thing in the worst possible moment and walking through them sucked, quite frankly. I have made decisions that were hard and hurtful. And I've wondered why in the hell God was letting all the shit come down. (That's a lot of cussing for one sentence about God.)

But in retrospect, those hard things were God's provision, his protection.

We're told over and over again that God's ways aren't the same as our ways. But when his ways hurt for awhile, well, it's hard to remember that. I was writing a kind of "statement of faith" recently and I wrote that there has never been a moment of my journey with God when I have wanted to walk away from him. I am grateful for this, and baffled by it. He's put me in some places I would never choose to go, but I'm changed because of them. Changed and grown. And I'm glad. I hope I can always say that honestly, but in this world that's so broken and filled with heartache, I wonder.

I wonder if God will send me a great fish that will spit me up, and then I'll walk away, not knowing he's protecting me.

The thing is, Jonah prayed inside that fish. He hadn't prayed at all up until that point, and when he realized God had saved him, he cried "Salvation belongs to the Lord!" When we are saved so drastically & loved so relentlessly, what else is there to do, but worship?