Jonah and the Great Fish

One day long ago, God's Word came to Jonah.
“Get up and go to the city of Nineveh and preach to them. I have seen how wicked the people are and I can’t ignore it any longer.”

But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction! He went to Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish.
He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape
from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

But God sent a huge storm over the sea. Mighty winds and crashing waves threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.

All this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the bottom of the ship, so the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up! Pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to you and spare our lives.”

The sailors decided they should draw straws to find out who was the cause of the storm. So they drew straws and guess who got the short straw? Jonah!
The sailors asked Jonah, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”
“Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “then the sea will be calm. This terrible storm is all my fault.”

The sailors were afraid and prayed to the God, "O God! Don't let us drown because of this man, and don't blame us for his death.”
Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the sea became calm.

But the LORD sent a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.
"In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. "
Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

SPLAT!

Then the Lord spoke to Jonah again: “Get up and go to the city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”
This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command!

God may have a job he wants you to do. When he calls, will you go where he sends you,
or will you run and hide?