07.28.2019 – ‘1From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said:
“In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
4 I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
5 The engulfing waters threatened me,[b]
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
7 “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.’ Jonah 2:1-10
“He answered me.” You can almost hear the amazement in Jonah’s words, can’t you? The idea that the all-powerful Creator of the universe cared enough to listen and respond to the cries of one man was astounding to him. As it should be to anyone who comes to the same realization.
What makes Jonah’s testimony unusual is that it came while he was stuck in the digestive system of a large fish. Think for a moment about what that would be like! Three days in the slimy, stinky, pitch-black darkness, circling slowly around the sea with no inkling of when the journey would end. Yet even though Jonah didn’t know how things would play out, he recognized that his situation – as unique as it was – was part of God’s answer to his prayer. Can you trust God in the same way about your current situation?
