The God Who PursuesSample

Chasing Without Running - Part 3

They throw Jonah overboard, and immediately the storm stops above the waters. But the waters underneath remain rough, and Jonah struggles to swim. He quickly tires and begins to sink. As he hopelessly flails about, he becomes entangled in seaweed. This makes it impossible for him to do anything to save himself. 

Jonah sinks further and further down into the depths, and he begins to feel faint. He’s been struggling without any oxygen for nearly 3 minutes, and his lungs are burning. He lets his last bubble of air escape and resigns himself to being buried in the sea forever. 

As his mind begins to settle into this reality, he remembers the God who sent him on this mission. He remembers the God who He knew brought the storm...the God who claimed Him and allowed the lot to fall on him even when he was playing with luck and chance. He remembers who his God is, and offers a last-ditch prayer.

He mentally cries out and feels a rush of water, as he slides down a long dark tube and finally settles in a dark, smelly corridor. Jonah realizes he is no longer covered by water and begins to pull the seaweed from around his head, shoulders, and arms. His eyes struggle to adjust to the darkness, and he can barely see. But, suddenly, he feels the corridor around him moving as if it were inhaling and exhaling. He reaches out to touch the “wall” next to him, and the slimy warmth leads him to a shocking realization. He is inside a living organism.

God pursued him with a storm. And now, in the depths of the ocean, on the cusp of his last breath, God pursued him with a fish!

Then it hits him. The same God who he knew would be merciful to the Ninevites was now merciful to him.

Jonah relents and prays to God, saying, “I will praise you, and I will offer a sacrifice to You. I’m going to do what You have asked because I know that you are a God who pursues me and saves me.”

Then the fish spits Jonah out on to the beach.

God could simply leave us to our own devices. Yet, He pursues us with storms. He pursues us with dark, smelly fish. When everything feels like crazy, dark, smelly, unfair...ask yourself, “Is God pursuing me?”

Then stop...let Him “catch” you and pursue the relationship with you He desperately seeks.

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If you want to read other devotionals by Robert, click here to visit the YouVersion Plan page on his website. You may also connect with him on Instagram here.