Jonah 3:10-4:4... Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the LORD, and said, "Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, one who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!" Then the LORD said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"

I recently read Jonah. Jonah 4:11 is the last verse in the book. In my bible this verse is on the bottom of the right hand page. The book ends so abrutly that I was surprised to find Micah 1:1 when I flipped the page to continue. No stuck pages, it just ends. Like the book of Jonah this song ends abruptly also. It is my attempt portray that aspect of the book. There are so many lessons to learn from Jonah. The primary lesson for me deals with choosing the path of Tarshish (disobedience) rather than the path of obedience. From Jonah we see that disobedience carries consequences. The path of Tarshish leads to the belly of the beast, miserable circumstances of our own making, where we eventually have to cry out to the Lord to save us. Fortunately He is a gracious and merciful God. Abounding in love and compassion. He is also a God of second chances. As one who has found himself in the belly of the beast I am glad that He is.

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