This morning’s daily office got me thinking on Jonah. I noticed something in this morning’s reading that I had not really taken on board before.

Why did it take Jonah 3 days before he prayed to God?!

I don’t know about you, but when I have cocked up and in trouble I go to God quite instantly – especially when scared. If I was stuck inside a gurt (you can take the boy out of Dorset but you can’t take Dorset …) fish, I’d be crying prayers!

Or would I? That was my second thought.

Can I be, am I, so stubborn that I would sit inside a fish before I spoke to God? Its a real possibility I guess which intrigues me and disturbs me all at the same time.

One thing I am starting slowly to understand is the current-ness of the Bible. It’s not powerful stuff because the stories are great, it’s powerful stuff because the stories are real, real people, and still happen now!

Peter denies Jesus, it still happens today. Adam and Eve decided to ignore God’s advice and try out their own ideas, it still happens today. David is besotted by Bathsheeba, is still happens today.

The bible is not just a collection of historical stories, it is a commentary on life as we experience it as well.

Jonah sits stubbornly in the belly of a fish because he does not want to do what God asks – it still happens today. On reflection I do have incidences where I know I need to return to God but stubbornly sit inside the darkness and sulk.

How weird is that! Why is that? Why make life difficult for myself? Much thought needed and too late to think seriously.

But why did it take Jonah 3 days before he decided to pray …?