Most people are familiar with the story of Jonah – or, at least, they know that he was swallowed by a whale. In my Bible (as pictured above) Jonah’s story fits on one single page. At first glance, you may think that there isn’t much to learn from a one-page whale tale about a man named Jonah. However, quite the opposite is true. If you are a true Christian (meaning you seek to encounter and follow Christ on a daily basis), you, too, have probably been in Jonah’s shoes. The lesson to be learned through his account is the importance of obeying God’s voice. 

Jonah’s story begins where all of our stories begin: with God calling His child. For Jonah, this call was to the great city of Nineveh. The Lord told Jonah that their wickedness had come up before Him. What does this biblical hero do in response to his Master’s instruction? Does he run swiftly to hearken to God’s voice? Is this another Abraham, a man who follows God without even knowing where he is going? Or is this another Moses, a man disregarding his own insufficiency to serve God and perform miracles in His name?

No, no, and no. 

Jonah, oh man after my heart, runs in the opposite direction. That’s right. After getting specific instruction from God, Jonah flees as fast as he can and hops on a ship heading to Tarshish. This wasn’t a free ride, either. Jonah 1:3 tells us:

Jonah paid to get away from God’s presence. 

Wow. Jonah didn’t just disobey God – he literally paid to get away. He sacrificed to try to get out of doing what the Lord had asked of him. How many of us have been there? (Insert “Amen!” here.)

Let’s pause. What do you think God’s response was? Did the Almighty Father simply let His son run away, shaking His head and hoping someone would knock some sense into Jonah? Absolutely not. As portrayed all throughout God’s Word, God pursues the hearts of His children. Did you get that? Let me repeat for emphasis. 

God pursues the hearts of His children. 

As demonstrated in the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:4-7), a good shepherd will leave 99 of his sheep to seek out the 1 that went astray. God shows us time and time again in His Word that He loves us and calls us according to His purpose, and that He is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 6:15, Exodus 20:5), which means He will do whatever it takes to remove the idols we have built in our hearts so that He can once again be our focus and our deepest love. 

If you would like to know more about God’s relentless pursuit of us, I encourage you to read this blog, which beautifully captures a taste of God’s love for us (even though the author quotes The Message Bible, which is an abomination, which is totally my opinion that I’m not pushing on you at all). 

Anyway, back to Jonah. He’s on a boat, running away. Already at this moment, three verses into Chapter 1, I can relate to Jonah’s experience. I have been Jesus’s runaway bride since I first felt His call. Praise God for what happens next!

Jonah 1:4 explains that “the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken” (KJV). In other words, God didn’t make it easy on Jonah. He is a jealous God. I cannot stress that enough. Because God wanted Jonah’s love and therefore Jonah’s obedience (see John 14), He put trials in Jonah’s life. Here’s a brief overview of Jonah’s trials:

1. A storm breaks out while he is on a boat in the sea.
2. The other men on the boat cast lots to see who was to blame for the storm. Jonah drew the short straw. His sin was exposed.
3. Jonah told them if he left the boat, the storm would cease. The men tried to get to land, but were unable to, so they essentially washed their hands of him and tossed Jonah overboard.
4. Jonah was swallowed by a whale the Lord had prepared for him. Jonah stayed in the whale’s belly for three days and three nights. 

What happened in that whale’s belly? Basically, God made Jonah fast and spend time with Him. Jonah had a come-to-Jesus-meeting, the whale vomited Jonah onto dry land (ew but yay), God repeated His instruction for Jonah to preach in Nineveh, thick-headed Jonah actually listened this time, and God was able to do great things. The people of Nineveh turned from their evil ways! God still had some work to do on Jonah’s heart (Chapter 4), but praise God for His patience with us! 

Similarly, God has recently shown me the importance of obedience. He gave me a message to deliver, and I didn’t want to do it. Predictably (or, faithfully) God put trials in my life. He also made me fast and spend time with Him – although it wasn’t in a whale’s belly. After fighting and wrestling with God’s instruction to the point of two exhaustion-induced anxiety attacks, I finally obeyed God and delivered His message. I don’t know what ensued after I delivered my message, and God has already shown me areas in my heart that still need work (idolatry is so terrible!), but, praise God, I can honestly say that the next time God told me to deliver a message, I didn’t hesitate. 

I’ll leave you with one last note. 2nd Kings 14:25 mentions an event that happened “according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai” (KJV). Basically, God used the very same hardheaded Jonah to achieve greater things for His glory. 

The godly woman who disciples me reminded me once of God’s omnipresence throughout time. He exists fully in the Garden of Eden, fully in the belly of that whale with Jonah, fully here beside me now, and fully in victory over the enemy in future battles simultaneously. What this means for us is that God knows what amazing things you are going to do for Him, regardless of what you may have done to Him. God knew Jonah was going to walk away! But God also knew that he would lead the people of Nineveh to turn away from their evil ways. God knew I was going to run away from His instruction! But He also knows what will happen as a result of my obedience – even though I may never find out. Likewise, God knows what you have done, but He also knows what you are going to do for His glory. 

Take this information and walk in this wisdom by claiming my favorite promise in scripture:

Pursue God, knowing that, in return, He will pursue you. (James 4:8)