God’s love won’t let us go even when we twist, tug, and try to run! Just ask Jonah, the most disobedient prophet ever. God called him to preach to Nineveh, but Jonah didn’t want to. So he ran to the nearest seaport and booked passage on a ship heading the opposite direction. God had a perfect plan, but Jonah was an imperfect man.

Our human frailty can’t mess up God’s sovereignty though. On his way to Tarsus, a fierce storm came up, and Jonah went down into the ocean. That should have been the end of Jonah, but God’s love would not let him go. For Jonah, mercy was a giant mackerel with a man-sized appetite!

From the belly of the fish Jonah said, “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.” (Jonah 2:1–2)

Even when we start to slip off the path God has lovingly planned for us, God never loses track of us. Not for an instant. He knew how and where to find Jonah, just as He knows how and where to find you and me when we veer from the perfect path God chooses for us. He swallows us up in His mercy when we are sinking in sin, just as He did for His reluctant prophet—whom God had the fish spit out on shore, to live to see another day.

God kept loving and using a man who did everything the opposite of God’s command. He didn’t give up on Jonah, and He won’t give up on you either. God still accomplished his goal of saving the Ninevites in spite of the stubborn prophet. Jonah concluded, “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. . . . Salvation comes from the LORD” (Jonah 2:8–9).

Thank your perfect God for His perfect ways and ask Him to use you in His plan today.