Runaway Child

Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights... And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah 1:17 & 2:10

Why did God provide the fish? It's a simple question, but it's one you may not have thought about. 

Certainly you remember Jonah's story! God told the prophet to go to Nineveh to preach to them, but Jonah couldn't bear the thought that they might turn from their wickedness, repent and be forgiven, so He disobeyed His God. He ran. He boarded a ship sailing in the opposite direction. 

The thing about sin though, is that always brings a storm into our lives. For Jonah it was a literal storm. The Almighty bore down on that ship with a storm was so powerful that the ship threatened to break apart. The sailors threw everything they could overboard and prayed to every deity they could think of to try to keep the ship from sinking. Finally, Jonah told them it was his fault. He told them that if they didn't throw him overboard into the sea the weight of his sin would sink their ship. These good sailors didn't want to do it, but because of the power of the storm they relented and cast Jonah into the sea. 

Which brings us back to our question. Why did God provide a fish to swallow Jonah? To save him! To bring Jonah back to God! 

You see, God discipline's His children like a Father discipline's the son he loves. If God wanted to kill Jonah, He would have had him drown. God didn't do that because punishing Jonah wasn't His purpose. He wasn't punishing Jonah, He was disciplining Jonah and bringing him back to Himself. This is a minor but important difference. God wasn't trying to get even with Jonah or pay him back for his sin. He was trying to get his attention and place him back on the narrow way. That's why God provided a big fish instead of a watery grave. 

Remember that the next time you think God is out to get you. If you are one of His children, it may very well be that He is...out to get you and bring you back to Himself. God chases down His runaway children just like any good Father would. But when will we learn to stop running away?