There are people who proclaim to be teachers of God’s word but think that the story of Jonah is a myth. The people who have a problem with this passage is that they do not know God. God is the eternal Creator of all things. God created matter, He invented it, it was His idea. He created everything out of nothing. He is all knowing, and He is the Lord God Almighty. God spoke the universe into being. God easily intervenes in human affairs. This is a story not of what Jonah did, it is all about what God has done. It is all about God's story of redemption. Since we cannot outrun Almighty God, it must mean that God pursues people. Over and over again, when we are wandering like sheep, God comes after us. God says, if with all our hearts, we seek to know God, God will reveal Himself to us. If we are lost, it is because we run from the truth not to it. God could have chosen someone other than Jonah to fulfill His mission, but He had chosen Jonah. Instead of running away from God, we should be running to embrace God. We do not want to be Jonah. We want to do God's will, even if we would not have chosen to do what God desires. We cannot improve our situations by disobeying God. Whatever God wants us to do, we need to do right away. Even our mess ups are used for God's good. God can do everything He wants, except violate His own character (and He does not want to do that). When we disobey God, it does affect others. The God we serve is a raging fire and He is Holy, Holy, Holy. We should not think that we can casually worship Him. You cannot outrun Almighty God.