Welcome to today's encouragement from our Daily Bread. I'm Kirsten Holmberg, and I titled our reading, Running from God.

Julie and Liz kayaked off the coast of California scouting for humpback whales.

Humpbacks are known for being active near the surface, making them easy to spot.

The two women got the surprise of their lives when one surfaced directly underneath them.

An onlooker caught footage of their encounter that showed the large mouth of the whale

dwarfing the women and their kayaks.

After briefly going underwater, the women escaped unharmed.

Their experience offers perspective on the biblical account of the prophet Jonah

being swallowed by a huge fish. God had instructed him to preach to the Ninevites, but because

they'd rejected God, Jonah didn't feel they were worthy of his forgiveness. Instead of obeying,

he ran away and took passage on a ship. God sent a dangerous storm, and he was thrown overboard.

God provided a way to preserve Jonah from certain death on the high seas, sparing him the far

worse consequences of his actions.

Jonah called to the Lord, and God listened.

After Jonah admitted his wrongdoing and expressed his praise and acknowledgement of God's goodness,

he was, at God's command, expelled from the fish onto dry land.

By God's grace, when we acknowledge our sin and express faith in Jesus' sacrifice,

we're spared the spiritual death we deserve and experience new life through

Him.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Jonah chapter 2, verses 1 through 10.

From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord His God. He said,

In my distress, I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead,

...