Jonah 1:17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
God can turn even our mistakes and mess into mysteries and miracles. The huge fish that swallowed Jonah is often interpreted as a whale. This mystery has been debated over the years and scientists have come up with interesting conclusions. There are four chambers in a large sperm whale. The first compartment of the stomach of a sperm whale is big enough to hold a human and it does not have the digestive juices that break down the food. If the stomach is irritated by a foreign body, it forms an air bubble which would have provided oxygen to Jonah. It is a mystery but the Lord God turned the mistakes of Jonah into a mighty miracle. The same God who created the cosmos with His word, created a ventilated chamber in the stomach of a whale for Jonah.
Jonah not only rejected God’s mission but also committed a series of mistakes and found himself in a miserable mess. He first chose to run away from his God given mission and he put the people with him at risk. The mistake of a person does not just hurt them but will cause harm to everyone on board with them. The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” (Jonah 1:11). Everyone on board the ship was going to drown because of the mistake of one man. Jonah recklessly jeopardized others and fell asleep at the deck of the ship. The captain was alarmed at the insensible attitude of Jonah. He said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish” (Jonah 1:6). Yet, the Lord was gracious to turn his messy mistake into a miraculous mystery.
God’ grace turns messy mistakes into miraculous mysteries:
1. Mistakes: Our mistakes can turn into mysteries and miracles if we admit and submit. Jonah confessed his mistake. (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so) (vs 10b). God prepared and provided a mysterious huge fish and miraculously preserved the life of the runaway missionary.
2. Mess: Wrong choices, decisions and direction of one person can affect the family, friends and everyone around them. One bad apple spoils the basket. Mess can be turned into a miracle only by God’s graciousness.
3. Miracle: Jonah’s open acknowledgment of his mistake turned the mess into a miracle. The moment Jonah was thrown into the raging sea, it calmed down. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him (vs 16). The pagan gentiles were able to witness the miraculous mystery of God through the messy mistake of Jonah.
Messy mistakes confessed and surrendered to the Lord will turn into a mighty mysterious miracle.
Isaiah 61:3a To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, I surrender my mistakes and the mess of my past. Take them and turn them into mysterious miracles. Amen.
Leave a Reply