By now I’m sure you’ve heard the story of the Cape Cod lobster diver, Michael Packard, who was in the mouth of a humpback whale. Well, recently I was speaking with someone about it, and I made the comment “a modern day Jonah”. Little ears were listening to our conversation, and the seven year old girl questioned, “Who is Jonah?” I proceeded to say:
Jonah was a man in the Bible. God told him to go talk to these people about Him (the Lord). Jonah did NOT like these people. They were his enemies. So, Jonah disobeyed God and ran the opposite direction. He boarded a ship to go far away from the place, Nineveh, where God told him to go. A horrible storm came about. The sailors knew that Jonah disobeyed God, and threw him over the ship. When he was thrown into the water, he was swallowed by a great fish. He was in the fish’s belly for three days! After he repented and prayed to God, guess where the big fish spit him out? Back where he started. He obeyed God, but he wasn’t happy about it. Jonah warned the people that God was not pleased with them and their actions and was going to destroy them. He later went up on a hill to watch to see if God was going to destroy them. But, the people stopped doing evil things and turned to the Lord! Jonah wasn’t happy about it still, but God taught him a lesson. This was probably one of the greatest revivals noted in the Bible.”
The little girl’s sister asked her, “Do you have any enemies?” With a look of deep concentration, she slowly said, “Yes. I had one. Her name is _____. She used to be mean to me, but then I started agreeing with her on some things. She started to like me and we are now best friends.”
We inquired about what she “started agreeing” with, and it was all purely innocence.
This little girl ended up doing what God taught Jonah…to have compassion, be grateful, and forgive.
Is there a modern day story or situation that you can relate to a bible story? Oh, friend, you don’t have to look too far to discover that God’s word is alive and active everywhere still today. Open your eyes. Get into God’s word so that you can recognize His lessons are still applicable to us today.
I pray that you will dig deep into God’s word, learn from its history, open your eyes and see His relevance from the past is still pertinent today and for all times. Share your godly knowledge with others.
Jonah’s story is more than just a story about a man in the belly of the whale for three days. It is about consequences to disobedience and obedience, being empathetic towards others, and forgiving.
I challenge you to read this short book of the Bible. Jonah is only four chapters long. There’s so much to gain for diving into His truth.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 NIV
Have a beautiful day.
Blessings to you and yours,
Stephanie
We had a wonderful family trip back in 2015 to CA.
Our adventure was so up-close and personal with the whales!
