From Inside The Fish

From Inside The Fish

Have you ever felt like you were inside the fish? Like, whatever hole you were in was so deep, it had swallowed you up completely. The lights are out, your head is wrapped in seaweed, and you’re swimming around in pre-vomit? That’s where Jonah was because he had gotten God’s call and ran. 

His running was so bad that it put everyone around him in jeopardy, and they threw him overboard in the desperate hope that it would save them. It did. And, it saved him, too. Getting tossed off the sinking boat into the angry sea, only to be swallowed by a gigantic whale – saved him. It saved him from a worse fate. It saved him from successfully running away from God.

God Stepped In

Jonah 2 says, “From inside the fish Jonah prayed…” It was only after he had suffered the most dire consequences from his disobedience, while facing certain death and destruction, that Jonah finally turned his face to God. He repented. He promised to make good. He proclaimed that salvation comes from the Lord. And yet, he was still the same man who ran. God knew, but because Jonah called on Him, because he asked for help, God stepped in. God answered his call.

Jonah’s release brought him to the shores of his purpose. God used the whale to bring Jonah closer to his calling. God took a calamity and turned it into a car ride. Jonah was running in the opposite direction, but ended up closer than he had been before he left. 

God Provides

We may think our bad choices have brought us too far from God. We may think our sins have made us unredeemable, but we would be wrong. God can take a thief on a cross, a woman at a well, a prostitute in a wall, and a deserter in a fish and convert them into the very best kind of evangelist- the kind who knows they have nothing to give, but God provides.

While I may not wish to be a Jonah, and I don’t have any intention of running from His voice, it’s nice to know that, as Jonah said in the belly of the beast, “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.”

May we always call on Jesus in our need. He hears and He answers.