You’ve Been There, Haven’t You?

Jonah 2:1-10  Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,  (2)  And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.  (3)  For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.  (4)  Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.  (5)  The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.  (6)  I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.  (7)  When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.  (8)  They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.  (9)  But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.  (10)  And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

I have seen many a graphic about Jonah being swallowed up by a great fish, but this one was the most descriptive. You can read all about the reason Jonah ended up in this situation in Jonah 1:1-17. But I want to concentrate on chapter 2 because Jonah’s heartfelt prayer is one that we have uttered (or will utter) at some point in our spiritual walk. To me, it is probably one of the most sincere prayers of the Scriptures. David had some wonderful Psalms describing his turmoil, but Jonah’s words brought me to tears.

Someone I follow on Telegram posted a YouTube video about Jonah’s account, and it pierced my heart. So much so, I had to write about it in hopes that this would be a blessing to someone. I may not have been in the belly of a great fish, but the darkness I felt within my spirit sure made it feel as though I was in the same darkness. Jonah’s circumstances leading to his being swallowed up are not my circumstances. The result of his disobedience led Jonah to his destination. My darkest hours did not come from disobedience. I was blindsided by a family problem that I could not fix. We mothers are naturals at fixing problems at home. But there comes a time when one problem in particular cannot be fixed. Nothing pierces a mother’s heart more deeply than alienation from her child(ren). But this time, was much worse.

I have been told by other mothers stories about their prodigal child. Some had a child that left home, not because of something the parents did, but because they wanted to live their own lives. Others have prodigals who left because they believed that all things wrong in their life was the parents’ fault. The end result of any of these stories is that of not hearing from our prodigal. Some live nearby, some have left the area; the pain is the same.

Rather than dwelling on the circumstances, I wanted to take a different path and look at Jonah’s prayer. Nine beautiful verses of passionate prayer resulted in a beautiful result! I learned so much from this prayer:

• The Lord heard Jonah! It didn’t matter how dark it was in the belly of the fish or how deep that fish swam into the sea! Can you imagine being tossed about inside that fish as it maneuvered its way through the billows and waves? Jonah could not see a thing – it was pitch black. A darkness he had never experienced in his life. He may not have thought that God would hear him from these depths but yet God heard him!
• Jonah tells God what kind of mess he’s in! Verse 5 is so descriptive! I can imagine how scared Jonah must have been.
• Jonah looked to God despite his circumstances. I love verse 7 – Jonah remembered the Lord when he felt like it was over for him.
• What was Jonah’s reaction? He prayed and acknowledged that it is a lie to think he could find happiness apart from God. Disobedience never brings happiness. 1 Samuel 15:22 tells us that obedience is better than sacrifice. In other words, if you disobey God, you can sacrifice a hundred lambs but you will never have peace. God doesn’t want your sacrifices (the works of your hands); God wants obedience.
• Jonah’s repentance was true as we see that he said he would sacrifice to God with a voice of thanksgiving. I can’t imagine being thankful that I have a prodigal son, but I can be thankful that the One who created my son loves him more than I do. God’s perfect will will be accomplished, just as it was in Jonah’s life.
• The end result of Jonah’s prayer was his admitting that salvation is of the LORD. Indeed it is!

After nine verses of repentance and praise, this chapter ends with God releasing Jonah out of mouth of the fish. Did you notice that Jonah was not spit out in the water? No! He was spit out onto dry land. When God answers prayer, He provides a complete answer. He did not leave Jonah to wallow in the waters until rescue came from another method. Instead, God showed Jonah that only He, God, could provide such a complete answer!

As for my prodigal, I learned that I could not fix this problem; only God can fix it. Are you wallowing in the same darkness as I was? Does your life’s situation seem hopeless to you? I hope and pray that you will dive into Jonah’s account and be as blessed as I am!

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