Saying Yes To God

Saying Yes to God

Q: A great fish swallowed Jonah because

• a. he refused to go to Tarshish.
• b. he refused to go to Jerusalem.
• c. he refused to go to Nineveh.

It’s never a good idea to say no to God. Just look at Jonah. God told Jonah, “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh.” But Jonah went the opposite way. You can’t flee from God, though, because the Lord sees and knows everything. God saw Jonah headed the wrong way and sent a storm that tossed the ship around so much the sailors feared for their lives. They threw the cargo overboard to lighten the load, but that didn’t help.

The sailors cast lots to see who had offended the gods, and they identified Jonah. Jonah told them if they cast him into the sea, the storm would stop. The sailors tried to row to shore instead, but that didn’t work, so they finally threw Jonah overboard. The storm stopped immediately.

God sent a big fish to swallow Jonah. Three days later the fish spit him up on dry land. Jonah had lots of time to think about his wrong choice while he was inside the fish.

God used extreme measures to get Jonah’s attention. It would have been much better if Jonah had chosen to obey God in the first place.

For You

God still asks his people to do his work, and people still say no to him. He may not use a real storm or send a fish to swallow them to get their attention, but he still uses situations, or allows things to happen, to get people’s attention. Learn from Jonah, and say yes the first time God asks you to do something.

Answer: c

But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the LORD by sailing to Tarshish.   Jonah 1:3

(The Whole Story: Jonah 1–2)