Our theme for this month: “Wisdom”
Our Bible verse for today: “I called to the Lord in my distress, and He answered me.” Jonah 2:2 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Sometimes our biggest mistakes teach the greatest lessons.”
I have always enjoyed the story of Jonah. It’s outrageous and comical on the one hand, and yet it teaches powerful Biblical truths on the other hand. In the story God has a plan to give the evil people of Nineveh one last chance to repent. His plan involves sending Jonah to them to preach the good news that God will forgive their sins. But instead of running with God, Jonah runs away from God. Why? Not because he was afraid that they would reject the message. No, he was afraid they would accept it. Jonah hated the Ninevites and he didn’t want them to be saved. So he disobeyed God and ran in the opposite direction God wanted him to be going in. He got on a ship, went to sea, and sailed off over the horizon.
(Cue the whale) So God caused a storm at sea, the sailors threw Jonah overboard, and Jonah got swallowed by Moby Dick. That was a bad place for him to be, in the belly of a whale, but the situation did offer some hope too. I love the song the Newsboys sang about Jonah’s escapade, “In The Belly Of A Whale”. Have you ever heard it? It is so funny!
“I’m sleeping with fishes here (in the belly of the whale)
I’m highly nutritious here, (in the belly of the whale)
Woke up this morning kinda blue,
Thinking through that age old question,
If you Google the title you can listen to the song for free. It’s hilarious!
The thing about the story of Jonah is that it’s a true story not an allegory. We know this because in Matthew 12:39-41 Jesus referred to Jonah’s story as actual history. The reason it’s included in the Bible is because it teaches such powerful lessons. First we learn that it’s foolish to run away from God instead of with God. But in this story we also discover that many times our biggest mistakes become our best lessons. That was true for Jonah. As he spent those hours marinating in the whale’s digestive juices he had plenty of opportunity to ponder the error of his ways. Then we read the results of that introspection,in chapter two verse two, when we see that Jonah acknowledged that he was wrong and God was right. He then called out for God’s help and once he was delivered, he got busy doing what it was he was supposed to have been doing to begin with.
It’s a great little story; it’s true; and it’s not just for children. There’s a lot we can learn while we’re sitting in the belly of the whale. Many times our biggest mistakes turn out to be our best lessons and we end up wiser for it.
God Bless,
Oak Hill Baptist Church 