And I did.
In the first chapter, our friend Jonah heads the other direction. He avoids God's command. And he gets in a boat heading AWAY from the very people he is sent to reach.
And in the boat are a bunch of heathen men, guys who have no clue about the God of Israel.
For them, the story begins with a storm. A real corker. And they are terrified. And they ask Jonah, "Who are you, where are you from, what is your nation?"
So, Jonah explains it all. And in the midst of this horrible experience they hear about God. They ask Jonah what to do. He tells the truth. Throw me in, he says.
And they do. And the storm is over. They are safe.
And scripture says that they "were awestruck by the Lord's great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him."
So. A believer fails. He runs. He messes up. And God goes after him.
And in the midst of his failure, God shows himself mighty, and some heathen sailors come to know the God of the universe.
A diamond in the midst of a tornado, I think, that God would use one man's stubborn disobedience to reach the unreached. Certainly not enough reason to disobey. No. But hope for those moments when you do.
Pretty amazing, yes?
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