Jonah - Oh My!

Jonah 1:17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.

Oh My Goodness! He got swallowed by a fish!! All the horror stories out there, the huge snakes that eat people, the sharks that attack, the alligators chomping on their victims - can you imagine getting tossed into the ocean - expecting death and then getting swallowed by a fish! As if the thought of drowning wasn't bad enough.

Have you ever had to go into the hospital and been stuck there for any length of time? Not an emergency room visit - which is frustrating in itself, but a few days of being in the hospital - on bed rest. I go crazy - even with a TV in the room. But three days trapped inside the stomach of a fish?!?! Oh my goodness!!

So I did a little research. The gross picture you see here is the result of gastric juices on skin - that which are contained in the stomach (of a fish as well), for only a few hours. Can you imagine the results after three days?!??! The man in the picture had a full recovery with no ill side effects - and even during the time the gastric juice was on him, maintained stable vitals. Interesting.

So not only was he trapped where he couldn't move, his skin was being damaged and there was nothing he could do - except - cry out to God. Why oh why do we wait until we are at the bottom of the barrel before we'll do what we should've done in the first place? Jonah had already admitted he was wrong - but he hadn't yet talked to God about it. Don't wait until your in the belly of the whale before you decide it's time to talk to God. . .