Sunday Thoughts

So today as I was sitting in church, I recalled a conversation that I had with one of my good friends who isn't a Mormon like I am. We were talking about whether or not the Bible is literal or figurative, specifically about Jonah and the whale. She pointed out that it seems unreal that a whale would swallow a man, but I pointed out that we do know they threw Jonah overboard, so maybe the whale actually did swallow him.

I pondered that for a while today, about Jonah being swallowed by a whale. That in itself seems unpleasant, I mean, in all the pictures of whales I've seen, their mouths are pretty gross... But as I thought about Jonah, the story came to mind.

Jonah, as we know, was told to do something by the Lord, but he didn't want to do it, so, being the smart man he was, he ran away and hid from the Lord. But the Lord sees all, and knows all. He knew Jonah was on a ship and sent a storm. Jonah knew what had to go down. He told the sailors to throw him overboard and they would be saved, so they did, and a whale swallowed Jonah. He spent three days in the belly of the whale and then the whale spit him out on shore.

Now, I've heard that story quite a few times but it occurred to me recently that for someone who hadn't heard that story in their childhood, that might seem strange. But then I thought, "What if the Lord hadn't sent the whale?"

Jonah likely would have drowned. He'd be dead. Or the sharks would have eaten him. Or maybe he would have drowned and then the sharks would have eaten him.

So in punishing Jonah for running away, the Lord saved his life, in more ways that one, even. He saved Jonah's life from physical death, and he also saved him from spiritual death. When Jonah was in the whale, he repented and prayed. He returned to his Lord and knew that when he thought he was hidden on a ship from the Lord, the Lord can hear him and speak to him even in the belly of a whale at the bottom of the ocean. And then the whale spit Jonah out on shore and he went on to do as the Lord commanded, teaching and preaching and, I think, bringing many souls to the Lord.

That to me shows a loving and merciful God. His punishment of Jonah, while not the sort of punishment my parents or your parents would deliver, was what Jonah needed to get back on track.

So I wonder, what is the Lord doing to get me back on track? I wonder what my spiritual whales are. That's something to think about.