Jonah had decided to disobey God — he was not going to Nineveh. He set sail on a ship in the opposite direction; he got on board with the wrong crowd. No one had a problem with Jonah while it was smooth sailing, but when the storm hit, when the going got rough, his new best buds dumped him in the middle of the ocean, in the midst of a storm. In Jonah Chapter 1 Verse 12 Jonah says “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” Do his friends say “No, we’re in this together.” Do they offer comfort or assistance. No. They chuck him overboard, and the storm calms.
Isn’t that like life? There are so many “in your face” metaphors in the book of Jonah. So now he’s literally and figuratively in too deep. He’s going under. He still doesn’t turn to God. He is alone. He is sinking. His problems are all encompassing, and then the whale, aka the great fish, takes a big gulp, and Jonah is swallowed whole. Jonah let his problems take over, He was engulfed, Jonah’s refusal to do God’s will left him alone, isolated, in a very dark place. Jonah had simply disappeared.
So often in life isn’t that what we do? Jonah knew what would calm the storm. Jonah knew he just needed to turn to God, and finally, finally, Jonah prayed:
2 1 [a]From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said:
“In my distress I called to the Lord,
and He answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and You listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
4 I said, ‘I have been banished
from Your sight;
yet I will look again
toward Your holy temple.’
5 The engulfing waters threatened me,[b]
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But You, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
7 “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered You, Lord,
and my prayer rose toYou,
to Your holy temple.
8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice toYou.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
Jonah finally cried out to Jesus, and the whale puked him up. God saved him. Jonah changed direction, when where God directed, however, he carried the “stink” of willful disobedience. Literally.
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