All around him was total darkness. There was no light, no company, no comfort. Jonah wasn't even sure what he was sitting on. He poked the soft, moist lump beneath him and then decided he probably didn't want to know.

The air was stale and humid. Moisture clung to every surface: the walls, the ground, his own skin. The setting reminded him of a nightmare he had once had after eating spicy dried meat too late one evening. Now there he was, perhaps the cause of this creature's own indigestion. I'm in a fish, he marveled. I can't believe it. I'm in . . . a fish.

He wondered if the storm had calmed down after his sailing companions tossed him overboard. Jonah did not blame them for doing it; after all, he was the one who suggested it. They were good men, and they had tried to still the boat without resorting to his outlandish proposal, but in the end, the sailors were left with no choice. "Pick me up and throw me into the sea, and it will become calm," Jonah offered. "I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you."

My fault. The words rang in his head as he thought about how he had gotten to this point. What a dismal failure he had been. God was so clear when He had spoken to Jonah; there was no mistaking what the servant was to do. "Go to Nineveh and preach against it," the Lord had commanded. It was a simple request. Why had it seemed such an impossible task?

Hearing the word of the Lord, Jonah did what many had done in the history of Israel: he ran away. I will NOT preach to the Ninevites, he must have protested. As he sailed in the opposite direction from Nineveh, Jonah silently argued with the Lord. God, those people are too cruel, too wicked. If I declare the Word of the Lord to them, they may . . . they may . . . repent! And if they do, would You just accept them into Your kingdom? Would You offer Your salvation to them, despite their wickedness? I can't do it. I won't do it. They don't deserve You.

He had felt so righteous on that boat. It was almost as though he had the power to make a nation rise or fall all on his own. By refusing to preach repentance to the Ninevites, Jonah believed he himself was punishing them for their atrocities.

Of course, such self-imposed righteousness had put Jonah in a precarious position. He was a man on the run, not from an army or the police, but from God. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought about Adam in the garden and how the first man had attempted to hide from God. It didn't work. When and where will God find me? he wondered.

That question was answered violently and to the surprise of the unaware sailors. In the middle of the night, a storm crashed in unexpectedly. The waters rose and fell, the winds howled, and the waves slammed against the boat with such force that it was only a matter of time before the deck was reduced to splinters. When Jonah took the blame for the storm, his companions reluctantly agreed to his suggestion: they threw him overboard.

Then the seas calmed. The ship was saved. And Jonah, engulfed by the deep, was suddenly swallowed whole by a giant fish—a strange rescue from certain drowning. Now, sitting nervously in the belly of God's grace, Jonah finally understood. Why do I resist God's grace upon others? he pondered. How many times has the Lord delivered me?

With that, he reviewed God's holy pursuit of him over the past several days. Weary, the renegade prophet bowed down and prayed, "The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. But you brought my life from the pit, O Lord my God. I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord."

At last, Jonah conceded, Okay, Lord. I'll go. I will do Your work. You saved me, and I will trust Your judgment in saving them, too. There was a powerful lurch and a roar, and then Jonah found himself flat on his back, looking up at the sun. His running was over, and now it was time to get up, clean off, and move toward God.

Because this one struggling believer answered the call to obedience, thousands came to a saving knowledge of the Lord God. Not even Jonah doubted this would happen; he had  actually run away because he knew God would save the Ninevites. How much, I wonder, could God do with my obedience? How much could He do with yours?

—Allen Harris

This Mighty In Spirit is a representation of what Jonah might have felt, thought, or experienced as he went through such a shocking ordeal. For the complete scriptural account, be sure to read Jonah 1:1- 3:3.