Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish.
Saying “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.
Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’
The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Jonah made some bad choices, followed his head instead of the Holy Spirit. He refused to go where God had sent him instead, he found himself on a boat to Nineveh. Because of his disobedience God caused a great storm, Jonah was thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish. Jonah realised his error in not obeying God’s command to go to Nineveh.
There are similar set of circumstances seen played out in our lives. Here’s how it usually happens
God gives us a command to do something
We do not want to follow “said command”
We decide we are not going to listen to God
God allow a crisis moment in our lives in which we cried out to Him
We ask for God’s forgiveness on the opportunity to be stored out of the mess we have made
God restores us and set us on the right path once again
We understand His original command and follow through in obedience
There are somethings that we can understand from Jonah’s prayer
God is a God who is nearby. Jonah 2:1
God is a God who restores. Jonah 2:7
God is a God of hope. Jonah 2:8
Some of us may find that we are in the fish belly in a place resulting from bad choices and disobedient. There is something in Jonah’s prayer for everyone.
Comentarios