Jonah 1

Jonah is a fantastic story of mercy and forgiveness held in the Old Testament.  I love reading about the fantastic ride in the belly of a great fish and survival of this ordeal.
I was teaching this story to my Sunday School class and I became enthralled and excited as I realized how many times this short book contained salvation and forgiveness.
I will start with Jonah, himself in chapter 1. He was a man that knew the voice of God.  God spoke to him.
1. Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

He actually thought he could run from the presence of the Lord.  God knew exactly where he was.  He sent a storm that ended up with Jonah being thrown into the deep.  God was already on the scene.

17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

God had a great fish already there waiting to scoop Jonah up.  He gave Jonah deliverance and salvation from certain death.  I have seen videos of storms at sea.  On his own, Jonah would never have survived being thrown into the stormy sea.  Much less, swim to shore.  God was ready to save his running servant. Even if it meant using a large fish to carry him back to shore.
Jonah would be able to tell of the great miracle of being rescued by God in the midst of a great storm in the most unbelievable way.
Jonah probably understood this verse better than most of us.

 Nahum 1:3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet.

This is the first example of God's mercy.  He saved his wayward prophet from sure death. Even when he wanted to be as far from God's presence as possible.  God is still present even when we run.