“So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” (Jonah 2:10), communicates God’s response to Jonah’s prayer of repentance. It is never wise to resist God. Jonah discovered, by an unpleasant experience, that all that God created can hear Him. God spoke to a fish He had earlier on prepared to swallow Jonah, to vomit him and it obeyed. God is sovereign over all He has made. Though some people may castigate Jonah for his foolishness of attempting to run away from God, the truth is that his  actions to a considerable extent, mirror our attitude to God at certain times in our lives. This is not intended to provoke condemnation in anyone, but to expose our vulnerability and culpability in this matter.
    Jonah’s woes began when he decided to disobey a direct command from God: ““Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”” (Jonah 1:2). He probably felt that by travelling in a different direction from Nineveh, he could change God’s mind about sending him there, but he was wrong. His logic did not impress God at all, let alone make Him reconsider His earlier directive. God had spoken and that was it. When God speaks the only acceptable response is obedience. Jonah attempted the impossible—running from God’s presence. God must have watched his futile attempt with an amusing interest. We make a similar mistake when we try to negotiate God’s commands to us. How did Jonah fare  by attempting to run away from God’s assignment and presence?
    The first sign of trouble for Jonah was that, “… He went down…” (Jonah 1:3)—the first of several other similar episodes of his “going down”. Any direction away from God or His assignment leads downwards. No one ever goes up by willfully disobeying God. Whatever looks like promotion that does not have God’s approval on it is a mirage, that will sooner or later prove to be  quicksand. Secondly, Jonah paid the fare. The Bible says, “But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” (Jonah 1:3). The Scripture text above alludes to Jonah’s fleeing from God’s presence as the reason why he had to pay the fare. Since Jonah chose to go to Tarshish—away from God’s plan for him—he had to foot the bill. It is costly to live in disobedience to God.
    Furthermore, the elements opposed Jonah fiercely. The Bible says,   “But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.” (Jonah 1:4). Jonah’s presence on that ship jeopardised the lives of other people on board. It is important for us to remember that we live in social contexts. Therefore, the decisions we make—whether good or bad—affect others positively or negatively. So, to say: “It’s my life. I can live anyhow I want” only demonstrates a poor understanding of your life as a link in a chain of social interaction. You are not necessarily the only one who suffers if you live in rebellion to God. In fact, it is recorded that both crew and passengers threw the cargo that was in ship into the sea, to say nothing about the mental anguish they had suffered.  What a loss! Nothing the sailors did could assuage the tempest. Even their efforts to return to land failed (Jonah 1:13). As a last resort, the men picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea. The result according to the Bible was, “…and the sea ceased from its raging.” (Jonah 1:15). It was therefore evident beyond doubt, that Jonah’s disobedience to God had been the cause of the  turbulence, at sea, all along.
        However, that was not the end of Jonah’s troubles. In his own words: “The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God. “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple. …” (Jonah 2:5-7). Jonah’s predicaments are on record as an example to us of what not to do, when God gives us a command. Shalom.