Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. (Jonah 2: 1)

At the bottom of the sea, in the blackness of the belly of a great fish, Jonah had plenty of time to think. The prayer that he prayed in Jonah 2: 1-9 suggests that he was finally able to retrace the steps to the true source of his troubles.

This prophet found himself fighting against the wind. He was forced to fight against the waves. He fell against his wishes into the jaws of a whale. All of this was simply because he chose to fight against God’s word.

God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh. Instead, he went the other way to Tarshish. For so many people, this is the story of their life. “Instead, they went the other way.” Could it be that much of our adversity is self-inflicted affliction? It’s not The Man. It’s me. It’s not the system. It is my sin. It’s not my background. It’s my backbone. It’s not my culture. It’s my character.

Let us pray that God will give us the wisdom and the will to avoid preventable adversity by strictly following the wisdom, word and will of God.