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Then they grilled him: "Confess. Why this disaster? What is your work? Where do you come from? What country? What family?" He told them, "I'm a Hebrew. I worship God, the God of heaven who made sea and land." At that, the men were frightened, really frightened, and said, "What on earth have you done!" As Jonah talked, the sailors realized that he was running away from God. They said to him, "What are we going to do with you - to get rid of this storm?" By this time the sea was wild, totally out of control. Jonah said, "Throw me overboard, into the sea. Then the storm will stop. It's all my fault. I'm the cause of the storm. Get rid of me and you'll get rid of the storm." But no. The men tried rowing back to shore. They made no headway. The storm only got worse and worse, wild and raging. Then they prayed to God, "O God! Don't let us drown because of this man's life, and don't blame us for his death. You are God. Do what you think is best." They took Jonah and threw him overboard. Immediately the sea was quieted down. The sailors were impressed, no longer terrified by the sea, but in awe of God. They worshiped God, offered a sacrifice, and made vows. Then God assigned a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the fish's belly three days and nights. (John 1: 8-17 The Message)
Have I got a deal for you, Friend! Three free nights and days in a restful, tranquil setting. If you like the ocean, and who doesn't? And if you like seafood, this deal is too good to pass up! Okay, I have to be honest. Staying in this place is like the 90 minute seminar that allows this deal to be free. No, it's worse.
Happy Friday! This being the start of the long Memorial Day weekend I thought you'd enjoy this offer. Actually, it's the story you probably already know. It's about God and a man chosen to do God's will. God told him, head this way; the man headed in the opposite direction. Some have compared the city to which this man, Jonah, was assigned, to modern-day Las Vegas, but that may not be fair to L.V. Nineveh was a magnificent city in terms of its history and architecture, and as a result it was a prideful city. And a prideful city can become a lenient city with a motto of "anything goes." Its behavior had caused God to foretell its destruction to the prophet Jonah and thus sends him to them. Jonah, fearful of several things, including his ability to do a God-thing, decides to go the other way.
It is almost comical to imagine running away from God, but people do it all the time. It is hilarious to try and hide from God, and again, people do it all the time. It's the same as kids do when they close their eyes thinking that no one can see them. We'll give Jonah credit for at least trying to run away from God. "If God wants me in Nineveh, I will head to Tarshish (note: This was The Apostle Paul's home town!). And nothing says relax from the stress of life than a cruise and so Jonah books a Carnival cruise to Tarshish. This quickly becomes the cruise from you-know-where as the winds pick up, thunder and lightning light up the skies, and the food starts to go bad. Not to mention the on-board entertainment was probably really bad. The crew realizes that something or someone really bad is onboard and they draw straws to see who it might be. And guess who draws the short straw? Yes, our friend Jonah. The questions as we see in the first verse above show the real fear the crew was feeling from having such a man onboard. "Confess. Why this disaster? What is your work? Where do you come from? What country? What family?" Jonah is honest with them and even volunteers to be thrown overboard. To their credit, the crew decides to row back to shore, and it is useless. The storm got worse and worse; the onboard band could only play "Rock the boat, baby," and that in the worse off-key noise they could make. And that was enough to allow them to do what Jonah had offered in the first place, to be thrown overboard, which they do.
As soon as the splash from his entry into the water is over, the sea is calm. The sailors are impressed, and no longer afraid of the storm. The band now plays a round they can all sing, "Row, row, row your boat." Everyone is happy. Except poor Jonah. Fearing death by drowning, he soon finds that a great fish has come along to swallow him whole, and for three days and three nights, he's in the seabnb*.
One might think, there's no better place to hide from God than in the belly of a big fish at the bottom of the sea. Surely God cannot be there too. But, like I said, this whole story is funny; for like other stories where humans have tried to outsmart God, they soon find that you can't fool God, and you can't hide from God. The deeper truth is that there is really no need to hide from God. God has seen and heard it all before; including the famous, "I'm not worthy or good enough," or the "please send someone else, not me!" God knows perfectly well how to send and why. Our doubt and weaknesses soon disappear as we take the first steps of obedience towards where God has sent us.
My life's journey included time in a bnb* of sorts, well, several of them. The excuses above? I wrote those! And I tried to hide behind them. I also ran from seminary and tried to hide in the belly of a huge corporation, like AT&T, where surely God did not tread; but He did, and does. And even in the day where there were no other phone companies to choose from! God found me and loved me. And God prepared me, and used me. And the same is true for you. Has God asked something of you? Have you tried to hide from God all these years? Did you think God didn't really walk the dirt roads of Gonzales County (fill in the blank with your county or situation)? He does. And He loves you enough to still use you. Just say, "Okay, God, You win. I surrender. Here I am, use me." And He will!
PRAYER: Awesome God. You are everywhere, even places where we don't invite You. And You, better than we ourselves, know our thoughts and abilities. You say yes, and we immediately say no. You say you can; we say we can't. You say go; we say no. Hear those, loving God, who might say right now, "I give up. Use me." And bless them beyond their wildest dreams. In Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Time in the whale is over! Hit the beach!
Blessings of love,
Eradio Valverde
*bed and breakfast
