Jonahናሙና

Where is God?

As readers of the story of Jonah, we see something that the characters cannot. We see where God is at all times throughout the story. 

In the first verses, we see the Lord in charge, giving Jonah instructions and direction. But Jonah turned away, unhappy with the Lord’s command. For a little while, his new direction felt so good that he was able to sleep soundly in the hold of the ship, even as a terrible storm descended. Somewhere deep in his heart, though, was buried the truth that God is never far away, even when we have turned away from Him in disobedience. When a terrified ship captain awakened Jonah, the storm quickly reminded the prophet of the truth he had willfully buried. 

Trapped on the sea in the midst of a terrible storm, the fearful sailors discovered Jonah to be the cause of their plight. With much effort, he convinced them that their only hope was to throw him overboard. Sinking into the depths, Jonah was swallowed by a big fish and held captive for three days and nights. 

Through this, we discover that the real question posed in the book of Jonah is not, “Where is God?” Instead, it is, “Where will God put His child?” Jonah needed a humbling reality check that would ultimately restore him to an attitude of submission to Almighty God. God, in His sovereignty, put Jonah right where he needed to be.

Unfortunately, we are all too often like Jonah. Where we need to be is not in the most comfortable place in the world. Instead, it is usually the opposite. The Israelites were not a seafaring people. They were terrified of strange sea creatures that could devour them, and that terror kept them clinging to the shore. 

Jonah, however, was so resistant to the Lord’s will and command that he decided the sea was a better place than obedience. As a result, he ended in the very place his people feared: the belly of one of those horrific creatures. Yet, that was the very place the Lord was able to show His love to Jonah. That is where He got His servant’s attention. 

Where will God put His child? Right where He can best glorify Himself and draw us back into His presence, even if that is the least comfortable and most terrifying place imaginable.