Devotional on Jonah

2013 – Shenandoah National Park, VA – Skyline Drive

That big fish
Jonah 1: Jonah was in the fish’s belly three days and nights.
Not long ago I read that a new species of jellyfish has been found at the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Think of it, after all the serious exploration and all the visits of tourists there exists a creature that no one has ever spotted before, or at least no one who recognized that this is a unique creature. When the sailors reluctantly toss Jonah into the water neither he nor they have any idea of what God has in store for this reluctant prophet. God sends a big fish to swallow him whole. Now, it may be that this is a whale that has a birth defect that traps air in its stomach. It may be that this is a “Designer model” of fish – one of a kind and made for this specific purpose. Folks who laugh at this story and discard it as impossible ignore all the “impossibilities” of life, stuff we take for granted that if they weren’t right in front of us we’d declare to be fantasy. The story of Jonah may be a fable started in another culture and appropriated by God’s people as a platform for teaching us about God. On the other hand, it may be “just the facts” retold generation to generation to teach us about God. Either way the end result is the same. I think I’ll just let the story stand as factual and get on to what I’m supposed to learn from it.
Take Away: Every day and all around us we encounter “impossibilities” that might be called “ordinary miracles.”