Initially, Jonah refused to do what he knew to be the will of God. Has that not been true of all of us? But God brought Jonah to his senses and delivered him! Jonah came up from the depths of the sea humbled and chastened, but scarcely broken, for the concluding chapter of his book shows that he still had much to learn. But he had experienced the power of God to lay low those who rise up against His will, and he was also assured that, come what may, God will never cast off His own.

We need not suppose that the great fish remained stationary during Jonah’s imprisonment; the eye of the Creator was upon it, and it was guided to drop the prophet just where the Lord wanted him. The obedience of the humblest creatures, as recorded in Scripture, is deeply instructive. The Lord Jesus, when on earth, wanted a fish which possessed a shekel, and to have that particular fish—and no other—caught on Peter’s hook (Mt. 17:27). The colt upon which no man ever sat, an untamed novice for work, obediently carried the Lord through the streets of Jerusalem (Mt. 21:7). In like manner, this sea monster was at the appointed place when Jonah was cast out of the ship; it took care of him for the divinely appointed period, and then released him in God’s time, and in the place where God required him. Alas that man, the most gifted of all earthly creatures, should be the arch rebel of this planet!

We are of the most use to God when we are where He wants us to be. God wanted Jonah to be in Nineveh. Where does He want you? Even when we are in the right place at the right time, we need the guidance of the Spirit constantly as to what we should say or do. We may know this truth, but it is essential that we put it into practice!