How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word.

Welcome to Through the Bible with our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

On our five-year journey through the whole word of God, we're traveling through the book of Jonah.

It's really an amazing prophetic book that, oddly enough, has no prophecy.

As you open your Bible, let's listen to some introductory comments by Dr. McGee.

He's reading a letter that he received many years ago from a 17-year-old girl

in response to one of his first studies in the book of Jonah. Today on your program, you talk about

God chastens his children and that he does so because he loves us so much. Boy, sometimes I wish

he wouldn't love me quite so hard. He sure has chasing me.

I'm 17 years old, and I am a senior in high school. At the rate I'm going, I may end up being

a senior again next year. Oh, not really. It just seems that way at times. And she says,

suddenly I found myself lying in bed. I got the flu or something, and it's settled in my lungs,

so it really hurts to breathe. Then too, it seemed to affect my mind. I just can't concentrate. And then she goes on to say,

anyway, as I listened to you today, I just could have cried. It was such a relief to hear someone

else say what's been on my heart for so long. It was comforting to know that someone else, someone whom I

respect and love dearly, had questioned the reasons for this trying God allows. I know that God is

allowing this to happen to me just to show me and others that I'm his child and that

he loves me very much. So I'm learning to rely on him for everything. And then I drop down again and

read, God and I have a very special friendship. It's different from the relationship that others have.

I was adopted when I was very young, so I've never met my real parents.

I guess I had a real problem with this.

I knew I'd been rejected long ago, and I didn't have a good self-image, partially because I felt like I didn't know who I really was.

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