Life can indeed be a perilous journey. John Newton’s famous hymn, “Amazing Grace”, speaks of "dangers, toils and snares" that he experienced firsthand. On one occasion, he was thrown from a horse, narrowly missing impalement on a row of sharp stakes.

In many Hollywood movies, there is a hero or heroine who comes to the rescue of others at the very end. Think of your favorite movie and identify the hero or heroine. It is almost always a human being.

How powerful is God? How far is his reach and how vast is his presence? These are questions that many people tend to ask. A prophet named Jonah put these very questions to the test several years ago.

A phrase has become quite common in several professions: “compassion fatigue”. Pastors or counsellors or nurses are reporting “compassion fatigue” in staggering numbers. The term means that a person has run out of emotional energy for the needs they encounter.

Have you ever needed a second chance in life? There is hardly anything more wonderful than a second chance – and we all need one from time to time – in big ways and in small ways. But a second chance is not what we expect the prophet Jonah to receive.