Jonah 1:17-2:10
As we finish chapter one and jump into chapter two, we find Jonah in the belly of the fish. Jonah was running as fast as he could from God. Finally, Jonah relents, repents, and turns back to God after the horrific storm. He is thrown overboard, and God catches him with a great fish.
Jonah is in the fish’s belly for three days and three nights. We can’t help but reflect on how many years later, Christ resurrected after three days. Jonah cried out to God, and the Lord answered him.
Jonah repented for all that He did and decided to obey finally. So God commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land.
Trust the Lord: He is Sovereign Over Creation
Are you walking the path that He has laid out before you?
We learn in Jonah’s story that God has immense and complete sovereignty and providence over His creation. He commanded the fish to swallow Jonah. Then, after the prayer of obedience and repentance, He commanded the fish again to spit Him out on dry land.
We can trust the Lord because He is sovereign over creation. This is something you are not. The story is full of evidence that God is provident in controlling the natural realm. We can trust that our Lord has control and power over all things. When He asks us to do something, we listen.
A miraculous miracle happened: God preserved a body in the belly of an animal without decaying.
Ask yourself this question: if God can control and care for His creation so well and show His power on a significant level, can He not care for me and guide me as well?
The answer is yes. Of course, He can.
Let us not forget that Jesus shows this same power as God in the flesh. It was Jesus that reflects Himself as the greater Jonah when He stood in the boat with his disciples, stretched out his hand, and calmed the storm in the book of Matthew. In chapter six, He speaks of the birds in the air and how God takes care of them— imagine how much God cares for His children.
You are the pinnacle of His creation. If he cares for these animals, He can take care of you.
God Answers the Call of Desperation
Finally, Jonah cried out to God in repentance. God always answers our cries of desperation.
Sometime after Jonah is thrown overboard, this big fish swallows his body, and he’s there for three days and three nights. At some point in this journey, since the story is not chronological and God’s focus is on the heart, it seems that Jonah had a near-death experience, as he is about to say a prayer and cry out to God.
For all we know, he may have experienced death itself. You might say, wait a minute, what are you trying to say, pastor? That could never happen. God could have done anything. In this case, He’s done it several times in the Bible.
The most crucial point is that God was willing to take him to that place, no matter how far. We don’t know what happened for sure, but it was enough to break Jonah down. Jonah was willing to go; God was willing to go further.
Before this happened, Jonah was willing to die instead of obeying God. Have you ever felt this bad? Yet, even at Jonah’s worst, God was there.
God Restores the Repentant Heart
God will pursue you. His relentless love will chase you, and if necessary, His unwavering love can be ruthless. Not because He hates you, but because He loves you.
I’ve been pretty low.
I think back to my step-grandfather, a hardened mean old man.
He had a hard childhood. I learned later he had a hard time and a rough life in the military. He was in the Navy. He cussed like a sailor. And he ran from God. For most of his life, he was unrepentant. But his wife, my step-grandma, loved him. She was committed to him. So God pursued that man through his loving wife as she prayed every year.
In the last weeks of his life, he cried out to God when he was in moments of pain and desperation. And God answered. The same man disowned one of his family members because she had a biracial child. Sin was deep in his heart. But even someone like him, He answers if they cry out to God in desperation and repentance.
Jonah was as far as you could go; you’re not going to go further than Jonah did.
God still heard his prayer.
If you’re a believer like Jonah was, you can avoid running. You can prevent the raging seas. You can avoid the depths of the pain that sin causes if you would relent and repent today. If you’re an unbeliever and you never believed, you can make a decision today to make the Lord your savior.
Jonah was in a spiral, a downward spiral, not only in sin but in the ocean of failure because he was not obeying the work of God in his life. But God hears his plea of desperation from the pit of despair, and God’s mercy brings him back to a restored position and puts him back on mission.
Jonah also speaks of how horrible the idols were. We think it’s crazy, but an idol holds more importance than God. What we worship is what we dedicate our lives and time to. Is it a desire? Is it something you can’t let go of? Careful that you are not worshiping idols in your life.
As quickly as he was taken in a belly, he was sent back on a mission, and Jonah got right back on track. Yes, he took a detour through a hurricane and a storm in the belly of a fish. But as soon as God got Jonah’s attention, He put him back on track again.
I love how the fish put him right back, where he was always going to be. God knew it. Jonah couldn’t see it.
We Can Avoid the Storms of Disobedience
Sometimes this reminds me of my children when they were young. They would not want to do a chore. They would get angry and then tired. After screaming, they would get punished. When everything settled down, they still had to clean their room.
Jonah tried to run away. He apologized and asked for forgiveness. But he still had to clean his room
God is still pursuing you. He will hear your plea. He’ll restore your heart, and he’ll get you back on track to where you were supposed to be immediately. You can avoid unnecessary pain by saying yes today and stopping the delay.
Maybe you have lost trust in Him. I pray that you will see how desperately God wants your soul today and how He loves you. He wants you to walk in obedience. God has a tremendous plan for your life.
