Jonah must have been very uncomfortable in the belly of the fish. Yet there are many people in this dark and suffocating world who seem to think that the place they find themselves is a pretty good place to be. They believe that the world needs only a few social and political improvements. And they also hold that people themselves possess the ability to make all the needed changes.

But this is not the testimony of the Word of God, for it says that "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 Jn. 5:19). It certainly is not the testimony of the Spirit of truth, for He has come to "convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (Jn. 16:8). The primary mission of the church is not to introduce social and political changes into the world, but to proclaim salvation as the way out.

Jonah was not so foolish as to suppose that God would make him a little more comfortable in the fish's belly, but he looked for deliverance out of it. He cried to the Lord, and the Lord heard him.

We are not to look for perfection in this world but to look forward to the time when Christ will recreate the world and bring in everlasting righteousness.  — M.R. De Haan