In 1875, British poet William Ernest Henley published a short poem that expressed one way to cope with life’s circumstances. 

The poem, “Invictus,” ended with these famous lines: “I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul.” 

I think of Jonah when I remember these memorable lines. 

Jonah is an Old Testament prophet, yet the book is not about the words of the prophet, but about the story of a prophet. 

The minute you mention the book or name of Jonah you most likely think of a fish or you think about the miracle of Nineveh being saved.

 Jonah though, I believe, is a parable of life.

The main actor is not the fish, or even Jonah… the main character is God. 

Now this happens all throughout history. 

The hardest person in the world for men to see is God! 

You’d think it would be easy. If you don’t think that’s realistic, remember that when Jesus came, they said, he’s just Joseph’s boy. 

When he died on the cross, they said, you see, he’s just a man. When he said “I am the good shepherd” in John, chapter 10, the religious leaders called him a devil! 

When God comes, we don’t see him, or we think he’s something else. 

In the book of Jonah, God’s plans didn’t fit into Jonah’s plans so Jonah skips town.

Now you may think you can run away from God, but you can’t. God is on the boat as well! 

We think we can control this, but we can’t. God hurled a wind setting the stage for Jonah to be thrown into the sea. 

The winds grow calm, and God raised up a great fish to swallow up the wayward prophet. 

Finally, Jonah prays and vows to God he will obey God’s voice. 

God then speaks to the fish, “Hey, there, Mr. Fish, you got a rotten prophet in your belly” 

So the fish coughs up Jonah on dry land. Now we are back to where we started, the same plan as before! 

You don’t get very far when you run from God! God then does the miraculous and Nineveh is spared. 

Amazingly, God can forgive Nineveh, but Jonah can’t. 

There is quite the back and forth between Jonah and God, but the bottom line is Jonah cared more about the vine and gourd God had provided for him and its demise than the people of Nineveh. 

God, spoke to Jonah, God spoke to the wind, appointed the fish, swallows and spits him up. 

The fish and wind listened and obeyed, but not Jonah. 

God appoints the vine and the worm… The plant and the worm listened and obeyed. 

So, the Lord can handle the wind, the fish, the plant, the worm… but those two-legged critters, God has problems with! 

Which leads me to the second thing that I notice, God is interested in people! 

The Apostle Paul writes… “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 

God wants your enemies, the people that make you want to pull your hair out, to repent and be saved. He loves them every bit as much as he loves you. 

Lastly, I can’t help but notice that… God can’t make you do his will. His will is for you to obey him voluntarily. 

If he makes us do it, it’s not voluntarily. The only thing in all creation where he is not master is inside us! 

There, if he rules it’s because we permitted him to rule.

 It is amazing to think that he can’t save Nineveh without Jonah. 

There is a world that is lost that he can’t save with you! It’s sobering to consider that the souls of others hang on your obedience. 

On the evening of Dec. 29, 1972, Eastern Airlines flight 401 crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing 101 people. 

Anytime a passenger plane crashes, it grabs our attention because so many lives are affected by the tragedy. 

But what makes this crash even more tragic is that it was completely avoidable.

While preparing to land in Miami, Florida, the co-pilot noticed that a light bulb on the instrument panel wasn’t working and he tried to replace it.

Unsuccessful at his attempts to remove the burnt-out bulb, the airplane was placed on autopilot and the pilot himself left his seat to assist him. 

Somehow in the process, the autopilot was accidentally disengaged and while the pilot and co-pilot worked at replacing a burnt-out light bulb, the plane slowly descended and crashed. 

Think of it… 101 people died because more attention was given to a burnt-out light bulb than landing the airplane! 

We can’t afford to be like Jonah focusing more on ourselves than Gods plan for our lives. 

Don’t let little burnt out bulb blur your focus on what’s important. 

Let’s remember why we are here and who is in control, because eternities are at stake! 

Tim Throckmorton is the president of Lifepointe Ministries.