Martin sat against the park bench, his face in his hands. The thump thump of the basketball told him his youth leader wasn’t too far away. Sure enough, a minute later, the seat moved as Josh settled onto the bench next to him. Josh placed his hand on Martin’s shoulder.

            “What’s wrong?”

           Martin sighed. “I messed up.”

           “Do you want to talk about it?”

            “Not really, but you’ll convince me I should, so I may as well save you the effort.”

            Josh laughed. “I didn’t realize I was so predictable.” He set the basketball under the bench and turned to face Martin. “I’m listening.”

            Martin swallowed. It wasn’t easy to admit to being a screw up, especially not to someone he admired as much as Josh. But somehow Josh would make him feel better. He always did. “God told me to reach out to the new kid in my English class. He’s a little strange, and I was worried people would think I wasn’t cool. So I switched to a different class so I could avoid him. I feel awful about it, but I can’t switch back now.”

           Josh pressed his lips together and was silent for a moment. “You’re kind of like Jonah.”

           “Oh, what, so now I’m going to get swallowed by a big fish so I’ll turn back to God?”

           Josh shook his head. “People think Jonah is about a fish, but that is such a minor part of the story.”

           “That’s the only part I remember,” Martin said. “What more is there? He ran away from God and God had him get swallowed by a big fish and that made him change his mind.”

           “There’s definitely more to it than that. Yes, first God told Jonah to preach to the Ninevites. They were terrible people and he didn’t want to do it. So he got on a boat going in the opposite direction. God sent a storm, and the sailors on the boat all prayed to their gods to save them, but that didn’t work since they were false gods. Jonah told them he was running away from the true and living God, and if they threw him overboard, the seas would become calm. They didn’t want to do it, but they did, and Jonah’s prediction came true. The sailors then prayed to God and made vows to him.”

            “I didn’t remember that part,” Martin said.

            “The important lesson there is, even though Jonah was running away and being disobedient to God, God was still able to work in the lives of those sailors. Maybe in your disobedience God will still be able to use you. He might touch the lives of someone in your new English class.”

             “Huh. Interesting. So maybe I didn’t mess up after all,” Martin said.

             “No, you definitely did,” Josh said.

             “Gee, thanks.”

              “I always promised to be straight with you. And when you run in the opposite direction from what God is telling you to do, it’s never a good thing. But that’s another thing you can learn from Jonah. God gave him a chance to make it right. I’m sure He’ll do the same for you. Do you know what happened when Jonah went in the right direction?”

             “I don’t remember.”

             “That’s a shame,” Josh said, reaching down and grabbing the basketball, “because that’s the best part of the story. When Jonah went to preach to the people God called him to, the entire city repented. Can you imagine? He was disobedient, but God still used him mightily.”

             Martin studied Josh’s face. “Do you think God can use me too? Even though I disobeyed?”

           “Absolutely. That’s why God gives us these lessons in the Bible, so we can learn from them. Yes, I believe God can use you. You just have to be willing to be obedient. That’s the only thing He needs from you.”

            “I guess I need to get to know the new kid.”

            Josh grinned. “And it didn’t even take a big fish to change your mind.” He dribbled the ball. “Are you ready to play?”

Jonah 3: 3-10

Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

God, thank You for giving us Your word. It is so helpful to us to see the examples of those who have gone before us. Thank You for providing a way for us to return to You when we go in the wrong direction. Please help us stay in Your word and follow the path you have laid out for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.