the fisherman song. [123]

jonah was a prophet. he spoke God's word throughout israel. one day, God sent jonah to nineveh. nineveh and israel were enemies. so naturally, jonah didn't want to go. he peaced out and tried to escape God. he went the opposite direction by ship. but God got pissed at jonah's disobedience and sent a storm to that ship and jonah knew that it was God. so he told the sailors to throw him overboard. they were all for that. but jonah didn't drown. God sent a large fish to swallow him. so then, after all of this, jonah talked to God and thanked Him for rescuing him and told God that he'd go to nineveh. so God had the fish vomit jonah on the beach. yum. so jonah went nineveh and warned the people that they needed to confess their sins to God or else God would destroy their nation. they people obeyed jonah and repented it so God forgave them and did not destroy them. hooray! but jonah was upset, he wanted nineveh to be destroyed. he actually sat on a hill outside the town and waited for God to destroy nineveh. but God told jonah that He cares about the people from every nation.
jonah learned a lesson we all need to learn. instead of sitting and waiting for God to destroy sinners, we should remember that He love all nations. He pursued them passionately through jonah. He did not stop. through jonah's disobedience, He sent a storm. through jonah's jumping ship, He sent a fish. through jonah's prayer, He had the fish vomit him up, right at nineveh. through jonah's words, He sent forgiveness. through jonah's bitterness, He sent a tree and destroyed it to make jonah realize that God cares for everyone.
jonah's story also shows the importance of following God and trusting Him. jonah was afraid of the ninevehites and wanted them dead. opposite of God's plan. God had a better plan for israel and nineveh. peace.
obedience to God equals peace. maybe not physically because we all suffer. but there's definitely a spiritual peace.