Jonahናሙና

What Was the Problem?

Most good stories take time to develop, introducing background and a bit of character development. Only after that foundation is established do these stories reveal the problem or crisis that must be solved by the end of the story. 

A quick glance at the book of Jonah seems to indicate that this particular storyteller did not believe in establishing background. Instead, the first five verses reveal three huge problems:
• Nineveh is wicked and God is sending His prophet Jonah to cry out against it. 
• Jonah has no interest in going to Nineveh, so he tries to run away from God. 
• The God from whom no man can run sends a storm that has seasoned sailors fearing for their ship and their lives. 

When we start to dig a little more deeply, we find that the wicked city, the opinionated prophet, and the storm that pulls in a few rather frightened extras are actually not the problems. Instead, they are the background and character development that points us to the real climactic focus. 

So what is that focus? Simply this: God has a plan, and each of these little details will come together to accomplish His purposes.

Nearly three thousand years later, we are still learning from the culmination of these three problems. When studying the book of Jonah, we are reminded that we cannot escape the presence of the Lord. We also learn the importance of obedience, and see the amazing reality of God’s mercy. 

But perhaps the greatest lesson comes from that overarching climactic focus. When we look at the story of Jonah and Nineveh, we can discover that what we see as a compounding of problems is, in reality, God working His perfect plan. 

God was not surprised by Jonah’s disobedience. He was not delayed by having to raise a storm to bring Jonah back. Nor was God’s plan for Nineveh negatively impacted by Him needing to work on Jonah. Instead, all of these problems worked together to point Nineveh, the sailors, readers, and Jonah himself to the truth that nothing is ever outside of God’s plan or His control. 

Yes, there are often problems in this sinful world. But what we see as problems might actually be tools in the hands of a sovereign God to accomplish His purposes and bring glory to Himself.