Hidden Miracles of the Bible: Secret Wisdom Within the WordSample

Miracle of Jonah and the Roman Conversion

Yesterday we learned about Joshua’s spies and how they crossed a raging river at flood stage. God provided the means and a way. As amazing a feat that it was, the Bible provides much more text on Rahab and how she helped the spies than it does on how the spies miraculously crossed the Jordan River, showing that God cares more about transforming the hearts of His people than he does in explaining how he miraculously bends the laws of nature. Today we will read about another Old Testament hero – one who God worked through, even when he was running in the opposite direction of his assigned mission.

The story of Jonah surviving for three days in the belly of a fish is incredible. When Jonah woke up that morning, I bet those overnight accommodations were nowhere near the realm of his thoughts!

What makes the story of Jonah even more interesting and compelling to me is that he is rebellious and stubborn; he has personal mental battles to contend with, vulnerabilities and insecurities. He is tempted to run from his problems rather than face them. He knows he should take one path in preaching repentance to the city of Nineveh, yet he hightails it in the opposite direction. But God chases after him and offers him redemption and, ultimately, love. How great it is that our God is a God of second chances!

Jonah is real. Authentic. He’s like one of us, and I’m sure we all can identify with his stubbornness and rebellious nature. The story of Jonah hinges on a point of personal fear more so than a lack of physical ability. So Jonah decides he’s not up to the task and hops on a Roman boat for Tarshish, a land 2,500 miles away, the farthest reach of the Roman empire at that time.

When a great storm kicks up, the Roman sailors could have immediately tossed Jonah overboard. Yet they did not and tried with all of their might to row the boat back to shore. Only after Jonah’s insisting did they do so, casting him into the sea, but not before first offering up a prayer. The Bible records that the sailors recognized God, prayed to Him, offered a sacrifice, and made vows to Him. That’s a pretty solid leap of faith to trust a God with whom they had no prior personal relationship!

The Bible tells us nothing about the Roman sailors after that, but a hidden miracle clearly took place that day. Not only did Jonah later go on to preach repentance to a city so large that it took “three days” to walk across, but God used Jonah’s detour aboard a Tarshish-bound Roman boat to convert the hearts of those Roman sailors.

The Romans and Hebrews didn’t exactly get along. But attempting to spare Jonah’s life at all cost, and being gripped by fear when Jonah ultimately insisted they throw him overboard, shows a particular reverence to both human life and to the Lord. It reinforces the power that followers of God have the ability through faith to change the hearts of non-believers. Our mission field is everywhere.

Grace can pervade even the wildest storms in life when we have a God who can help us win hearts for him, even in the unlikeliest of places. Like Jonah, we can try and go AWOL from our lives, but we can never be absent from the presence of God.

Thought for Today: What is an unlikely situation in which God placed you, where you were able to profess your faith to others?