In November of this year in the Netherlands, like something straight out of a movie, a Dutch train came flying off its tracks. But instead of plummeting thirty feet to ground, the train was miraculously caught and held aloft by the sculpture of a whale’s tail. The sculpture was put up in 2002 and given a most prophetic name, “Saved by the Whale’s Tail”. Thankfully, everyone got off the train safe and sound. Who would have expected a plastic sculpture nearly twenty years old could hold up a metro train?
This story reminds me of the prophet Jonah. These passengers were not the first ones to be saved by a whale. You remember the story. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh and tried running from God. Jonah’s plan seemed to be working until God sent a storm to detour the ship Jonah was sailing on. Jonah realizing God was sending him a notice, decided to come clean to everyone on the ship. He told them to throw him overboard and the storm would cease. I would say in part because he did not want these other men to suffer, but also in part because if he drowned at sea he would certainly not have to go to Nineveh. So, they send Jonah headlong into the raging sea and the storm calms. The men on the ship are saved, but so was Jonah. God sent a whale to swallow Jonah. He was saved by the whale.
Why does God show us such grace and mercy? Why does He protect us from unforeseen disaster and even our own stubbornness? I think the answer is quite simple. God still has plans for our lives. Even though Jonah would just as well have cut his life short, God still had a plan for him and brought the reluctant prophet all the way to Nineveh. God still has a plan for all those that were miraculously saved on that train. Maybe you have your own stories of miraculous protection. If you are still here today, that means, God still has a plan for you. God has not brought you this far for you to do nothing. Count your blessings and follow God’s leading.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
-Ephesians 2:10, NIV