Chapter 3


THE SUPERNATURAL FATHER

RAYS OF SUNLIGHT streamed across the sky dispersing the darkness. Damp air surrounded Jonas, and sunlight danced across his eyelids awakening him to a new day. He stretched his arms and yawned.

Thankful to have survived another night on the island, he began to remove his palm branch blanket. The soft fronds, while making a comfortable makeshift blanket, created a sense of pain in Jonas’ sore, blistered hands. He cringed at the stinging sensation, and would have moaned but realized he couldn’t utter any sounds from his dry, parched mouth. While he would have liked to enjoy the beautiful morning, his thoughts turned once again to nothing but finding water to drink.

He rose to his feet and, after strapping on his backpack, headed back to the area of the island that seemed to have moist dirt. Once again he tried stabbing the ground for signs of water. He moved around the area plunging his knife and sticks into the soil hoping for some indication of water below the surface.

Several hours passed, and Jonas was becoming tired and frantic. His face was dry and dirty, and he was desperate for water. He plopped down onto the ground and reached for the Bible in his backpack. He earnestly searched the Scriptures hoping to find what he was looking for so he could pray. Flipping through the pages of the Book of Psalms, Jonas finally found the exact scripture that applied to his circumstances. His hands gently slid across the smooth page in a reverential fear of the Word of God.

He opened his mouth to speak the words of a dire plea to his heavenly Father. From the depths of his soul, Jonas cried out with a trembling voice, “‘As the hart pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God. My inner self thirst for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night.’¹

“Father, Jesus, I need You! Where are You? You said You would never leave us or forsake us. I don’t know where my parents are. I don’t know where they are! I have no one! There is no one to help me.”

With his Bible in hand, he stretched his arm toward heaven with his final plea. “I have Your promises. This is Your promise to me. This is Your Word.”

Unable to speak another word, Jonas fell to the ground and coughed for what seemed like an eternity. His mouth and throat were so dry he could barely swallow. Finally he stretched his exhausted, hungry, thirsty body across the dirt ground. He could hear and see, but he was too weak to move. He just lay there on the ground weeping gently. His mind was full of thoughts; thoughts of his parents and the hope that they were on their way to rescue him. They were smarter than him. How could they not know where he was?

It was a dreadful thought to imagine dying at the age of eleven, and Jonas was trying hard to push the thoughts out of his mind. Oh, if he could only hear the loving voices of his parents. All of his pain and misery would vanish!

The wind began making a new and different sound, so Jonas tilted his head toward the sky. Sure enough, it looked like it would soon rain. There was a rumbling in the dark clouds above, followed by streaks of lightning and loud thunder. Rain proceeded to fall. Wonderful, wonderful rain fell on every inch of Jonas’ body. The welcomed relief was indescribable to him at that moment. He held his tongue out to catch the rain. Each cool drop was sheer delight to his dry mouth.

Feeling greatly revived, Jonas leapt from the ground and began dancing around. The rain had now soaked his clothes and was dripping from his hair. He was so excited to finally have a drink, but the thought came to him that he had better find a way to collect the rain. As he ran to get the empty water bottle from his backpack, a huge ball of fire appeared before him. Jonas gasped in terror at the sight of the flames in the middle of the downpour. Suddenly, a thunderous voice spoke out of the flames. “As a father loves and pities his children, so the Lord loves and pities those who fear Him [with reverence, worship, and awe].”²

Jonas could feel his heart pounding wildly in his chest. Somehow he managed to reply, “O God; O God, is that You?”

The flames began to disappear, leaving only a voice to be heard. “Jonas, I am your heavenly Father. I have listened to your prayer and your plea for help. I am faithful to My Word and My promises. Let Me remind you of a promise from Luke chapter 11. ‘Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!’³

“Jonas!” the booming voice, sounding like crashing waves of the ocean, continued. Jonas swallowed his saliva with great apprehension and focused all of his attention on the voice of his heavenly Father.

“Yes, Lord.”

“I have given you the Holy Spirit as a comforter. He is your teacher, and He will guide you. It is written, ‘The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.’”⁴

Jonas cried out, “Father, thank You for hearing my prayer. Thank You.”

Still trembling from the shock of hearing the audible voice of his heavenly Father, Jonas found a rock to sit on. As he tried gathering his thoughts, he noticed that the rain shower had ended and the hot island sun was already drying up the much-needed moisture. In a moderately low pitch, he continued the conversation. “Lord, where do I find water?”

Once more, God spoke: “Jonas, grab a stick from the ground.”

Jonas got up and rummaged around only briefly before finding a short, stubby stick. The voice of the Most High God continued to guide Jonas. “Jonas, I want you to strike the rock you were sitting on, and then move back.”

“What?” asked Jonas.

“Take the stick in your hand and strike the rock you were just sitting on.”

“Oh, my! I don’t mean any disrespect, Lord, but isn’t that what You had Moses do?”

“Yes, Jonas, that is what I instructed Moses to do.”

“Okay, but I’m not a Moses. I haven’t done great things for anybody. I’m just an eleven-year-old boy stuck here on this island. Don’t get me wrong; I believe You could do it again. But if You don’t mind my asking, why would You do it for me?”

To Jonas’ utter amazement, the Lord actually chuckled as He answered, “Jonas, you are as much My child as Moses. I love you, and I want to supply your needs the same way as I supplied the needs of Moses and My people. Now go ahead. Strike the rock.”

Jonas stared at the stick in his hand for several seconds. He didn’t want to doubt God, but this was almost more than he could believe. He looked at the rock and then back at the stick. He closed his eyes tight as he swung the stick like he so often swung his baseball bat. He knew exactly when the stick connected because the force with which he swung snapped the stick in two. He jumped back and his eyes flew open as water immediately began flowing from the rock.

“Oh my gosh!” he yelled. “This is so awesome! I did it! I mean, we did it! Well, no, I guess it was really just You that did it.”

“You are correct in saying ‘we,’ Jonas. It was My power that caused water to be found in a rock, but it was your faith and obedience that brought the water forth. Now drink your fill and be at peace. This rock will continue to give you the water you need, and I will continue to be right here with you.”

Jonas quickly cupped his hands to collect the water. He drank quickly, but it didn’t supply his need soon enough. He tilted his head under the flow of the water with an open mouth. Ah! The cold water was an absolute delight to his dry, thirsty mouth. Jonas drank until he was completely full, and then he moved away to a thicket of grass to lean back, rest, and think.

Momentarily closing his eyes, Jonas wondered what he would see and hear next. It was truly a fearful, reverent experience to see the supernatural and communicate with the holy God of the universe. He realized nothing had prepared him for this encounter, and he didn’t know how to process this new information. He was only familiar with Earth and the people who lived on the planet. Not that he wasn’t familiar with the Bible and God—his parents and others at church had truly instructed him in the “ways of righteousness”— but he had never had a real-life experience with the living God.

He began to pace in the small clearing. If only he had someone with whom he could share his thoughts and feelings. He felt so exhilarated knowing that he had a future; that he would live and not die.

Jonas was enjoying the cool, clean water flowing from the rock, but once again the rumbling in his stomach reminded him of another problem: hunger. He returned to the bushes where he had discovered the grapes and began plucking them from the vine. The tangy taste was refreshing and somewhat filling, but Jonas knew he couldn’t make a steady diet of eating grapes.

“Father,” Jonas began talking with the Lord again. “I am so thankful for Your love and care for me. I truly thank You for giving me water to drink. You have been wonderfully generous in supplying me with a continuous source of water. Father, I have another request. I need food that will satisfy my hunger. These grapes are good, and I thank You for helping me find them, but they aren’t enough for me. I would greatly appreciate something more filling. I will happily follow Your instructions, Father.”

A few minutes went by, but Jonas didn’t see or hear anything. In a very quiet voice he once again addressed his Father. “Lord, I’m listening and waiting for You to talk to me—to say anything. I promise I’ll listen.”

Jonas began singing hymns and various songs he had learned while worshipping God growing up. He truly enjoyed offering praise to God. It always made him feel good inside because he knew it made God happy. After his supernatural encounter with his eternal Father, he was even closer to God; and praise and worship brought him to a new level of intimacy that was very endearing to him. Jonas now felt that he truly knew the God who had so much love and compassion for all His children.

Jonas had lost track of time, and darkness was covering the island. There wasn’t enough light for him to go back to his sleeping area, so he tried to cover himself with the vegetation that was available to him. The temperature was mild, and he had no trouble getting comfortable for the night.

As he fell asleep, he found himself wondering when God would answer his prayer; or, better yet, how the almighty God would answer his prayer. Jonas had faith in the Lord to take care of him, so he didn’t struggle with his thoughts. He peacefully fell asleep.

During the night, the warm wind of the Holy Spirit stirred within Jonas, transforming his heart and thoughts to guide him and prepare him for the new day arriving. When he awoke he wasn’t quite sure what his eyes were seeing. There was a light, fluffy cloud hovering over the ground. It was a beautiful cloud with light streaming down from all sides. The light was brighter than anything he had ever seen, yet he didn’t find himself squinting when he looked directly into it. Glancing around him, Jonas noticed that everything was bathed in this unusual light, and nothing appeared as it normally would have. Even the trees and ground cover had taken on a majestic appearance.

Jonas felt the light beckoning him closer. He moved from the shadows and stepped into the glow. He immediately noticed something unusual resting on the ground. At first glance it had the appearance of some type of food; maybe a pita. Or was it an angel food cake?

“Jonas,” the voice of the Father echoed across the island. “This is food for you to eat.”

Jonas wasn’t as startled to hear the Father’s voice this time. He had begun to recognize it quickly and was feeling so peaceful knowing he was always in his Father’s presence.

“Let me guess, Father. This is manna isn’t it?” asked Jonas with a slow smile spreading across his face.

“Yes, My son. Now, eat your fill.”

Jonas ate freely and while his stomach began to fill, the Lord stayed and visited with him.

“Jonas, you are spirit of my Spirit. You have my spiritual DNA That makes you My son and heir. You belong to Me. Every morning that you awaken, you will have living bread to eat. You shall live and not die.”

“Father God, ‘thank You’ doesn’t begin to express what I feel because I am so grateful for Your love and mercy. I love You, Lord.”

With a full stomach and a spirit of peace, Jonas returned to the rock formation to drink the cold, clear water. He filled his water bottle and decided to explore the island. He couldn’t remember ever being this excited about life, which seemed very strange given his circumstances. But he never dreamed he would experience the things he was now living. The words on the pages of his Bible had come to life. They were no longer just stories about people who lived hundreds of years ago. He, too, had encountered the living God just as they had. In his heart, he knew this was a moment in time he would treasure for the rest of his life regardless of how long he lived. He had met his Father, who was very real and very alive. Jonas had no human to talk to, but it didn’t seem that important any longer. He knew he wasn’t alone.