I love the book of Jonah. If you read Jonah 1:1-2 we see that God spoke to Jonah, gave him a clear mission, and Jonah heard him, no doubt. If you continuing reading Jonah 1:3 we see that Jonah ran from God, knowing fully what God wanted from him, yet Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh. Nineveh was a big city, an important city, with very large walls, that took three days to visit the whole city. Why do you think Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh? Was he scared, was he a rookie prophet, was he lazy, or just disobeying God?

Jonah knew that this city was wicked, and honestly, Jonah didn’t want God to save them. The Ninevites were wicked and evil. The Ninevites were known to bury a person alive in the desert sand up to their necks and let them die that way. He didn’t feel they deserved compassion and mercy. And that’s normal, we’ve all been there right? We see or hear about something so wicked and disgusting and evil, that we feel that it deserves justice, not mercy and forgiveness? So the Bible goes on to tell us that a violent storm sent from the Lord threatens the ship that Jonah is on, and Jonah gets thrown overboard, and is swallowed by a great fish or whale. The Bible says that Jonah is inside the fish for three days and three nights.

Have you had that stirring feeling inside to do something bigger than what you thought you were capable of doing, to step out and take a risk, no matter what the consequence? Have you been so close to doing something that you knew you should do, maybe you had confirmation from God even, with clear direction and purpose, only to then hit an uncomfortable roadblock that made you turn back? And maybe you said to yourself, “Well somebody else will handle that” or “Well what can I do, I’m only one person?” We have all ran from God at one point or another. And what usually happens is we get down on ourselves, feeling guilty, and feeling useless.  This is what the enemy wants us to feel.

So after Jonah was in this fish for three days and nights, and he repented and prayed for forgiveness. So God commands the fish spit Jonah out. After Jonah repented and prayed for forgiveness, God still believed in him, and gave him another shot. I think this is a beautiful picture of the Gospel, because we all screw up, we all run from God at one point or another, and God is forgiving if we truly repent . If you continue reading the rest of Jonah, you see that God still used Jonah. The Bible goes on to tell us that Nineveh turned from their evil ways; and God had compassion on them.  

If there is something that you have run away from when God was telling you to run toward it, it’s not too late. If you have looked the other way at an injustice, whether locally or globally, it’s not too late. If you have done all the wrong things, knowing what the right things were, it’s not too late. If there is a mission that God has given you, but you have not started it, it’s not too late. God still loves you, God still believes in you, and God wants to use you. It's not too late...