The Jonah experience

By RH

     This is a story that children have a good time with. It really lets them use their imagination. The story is about how God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh to give the people a message.

      Jonah, being like so many of us, felt like he couldn’t do what God wanted him to do, so he tried to run away by going in the opposite direction. On his journey, he found himself on a ship. The sailors found out that he was running away from the Lord and decided that he was bringing them bad luck so they threw him overboard. In the water, he was swallowed up by a whale. He was in the whale for three days and three nights. Jonah prayed to the Lord in thanksgiving for not letting him drown. God told the fish to spit him onto the beach and the whale did. Then, God asked Jonah again to go to Nineveh and he obeyed.

      Have you ever had a Jonah experience? I think I have. I had been asked to become involved with a different Catholic community. I didn’t think I could do it. My whale was a letter that told me that I needed to make a decision and I was ‘spit out’ into that community. As hard as I tried to back away, there were things that I needed to do and could do in that place. God had been very good to me by allowing me to be part of a community that welcomed me. Even though I miss the former community, I feel God is asking for my obedience and He will bless me for it.

      So, I ask again: Have you ever had a Jonah experience? Was there a time when you felt that there was something you should do but wanted to run away from? Is there something that makes you feel 'out of your comfort zone'? Could it be that God is asking you to forget yourself and give yourself over to His plan?