I admit I was a wimp when I was little. I never wanted to leave home, but every summer I went to my grandparents’ farm to stay a week. I cried of course, and I also had a good time. The highlight of the week was fishing. I learned to put a worm on my hook, and I learned patience waiting for a bite. Every summer I went and every summer I would look for a reason not to go. As an adult, I remember it fondly.

I recently learned about the prophet Jonah. Everyone probably knows that Jonah was swallowed by a whale but the Bible calls it a huge fish. I never knew the importance of Jonah’s experience until now. God wanted Jonah to go to a city called Nineveh and tell the idol worshipping people about God, but Jonah was afraid of the violent people who lived there. Instead he got on a ship and sailed in the opposite direction. A storm came, he went overboard and spent three days inside a huge fish and then was vomited out.

Jonah agreed to go to Nineveh and preach about God. He told the people that the entire city would be destroyed in 40 days if the people didn’t repent. The people believed Jonah and the king ordered all the people and even the animals to fast and wear sack cloth in atonement for their sins. The city was spared and Jonah was angry.

Jonah had wanted these evil people destroyed for all the sins they had committed but God didn’t. God forgave his children. Jonah knew God was a loving, compassionate father, but he still wanted these awful people of Nineveh punished. The lesson here is important to share.

To truly to forgive someone who has harmed us, means we want the best for them. From my experience that only happens through prayer. I know I have said I forgive someone and still hoped their evil tongue would be covered with blisters. That is wanting punishment in exchange for my forgiveness. God educated Jonah and through him, educates us. It takes a lot of praying for this to happen, but it is worth it.

Jonah’s story is much more than being swallowed by a big fish.