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"How many of you have ever been asked to do something you didn't want to do?" Hands immediately fly into the air as bright voices begin to tell me of those things that torment their young existence:

"Make my bed!"

"Take a bath!"

"Fold washcloths!"

"Put on my shoes when I'm in the house and I don't think I need them!"

Surprised at the absence of one particular answer, I tease the children with the comment, "I suppose you all enjoy cleaning your rooms?"

"OH NO!" comes the unanimous, vehement reply.

"No? Well, no one mentioned it. I just thought I'd better check. I didn't enjoy cleaning my room when I was your age either -- in fact, I still don't. But sometimes it's necessary to do things we don't want to do. The Bible contains many stories of people who were asked to do things they didn't want to do. One of these people was Jonah. Who can tell me something about Jonah?"

"He was a man who went out in a boat," comes the initial response.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because God asked him to talk to some people and he didn't want to."

I am impressed by these children's knowledge of the story. "Yes, God asked him to talk to the people of Nineveh. So he decided to run away from God. That's why he was in the boat. But what happened?"

"He got swallowed by a whale!" several children exclaim together.

"Yes, there was a fierce storm, and Jonah ended up in the ocean where a big fish swallowed him up."

At this statement Tashia raises her hand to get my attention. I nod to her. She holds her hands outstretched as far as they will go and says, "It was at least this big!"

"Yes," I agree, "it was at least that big!" Then, looking around at the group of inquiring faces I ask, "Can you imagine being swallowed by a fish?"

As many little heads shake the answer, Tommy speaks. "No," he says, "I'll bet he didn't like it very much."

"Who," I ask innocently, "Jonah or the fish?"

"Well, Jonah, of course!" Tommy replies, somewhat impatiently. But it is evident that some young minds have been stretched with the thought that the fish might have had feelings too.

"So, what happened to Jonah after he had been in the belly of the fish for three days?"

"The fish spit him out!" several children answer in unison.

"That's right. The fish spit him out, not into the water, but onto dry land. While Jonah was in the fish, he had lots of time to think about God and what had happened when he had tried to run away from the task God wanted him to do. When he finally got out of the fish, Jonah knew there was no place on earth where he could run completely away from God.

"Jonah also knew, because God had come after him and saved him, that God loved him even though he had disobeyed. So Jonah went to Nineveh and did what God had asked him to do in the first place.

"Sometimes our parents or teachers or friends ask us to do things we really don't want to do. We can refuse, disobey, even run away. But eventually, like Jonah, we have to come back and the task is still waiting. Running away is not often the best way to solve a problem. So, the next time you're asked to help out by folding clothes, or making your bed, or even cleaning your whole room, maybe you'll find the task easier if you remember the story of Jonah. God loved Jonah and needed Jonah's help, just as the people asking you to do these things you don't like to do need your help. I'll bet they love you too."