Aug 1 - Jonah and the Great FishLessons from the Life of Jonah: Jonah and the Great FishBy Jim Laffoon But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord." And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah 1:17-2:10 As the storm continued to grow in intensity, Jonah told the crew to throw him over the side of the boat. Although the crew knew Jonah was running from the Lord, they had no desire to murder him. After making one last attempt to row back to Joppa, they finally listened to Jonah. While crying out to the Lord to forgive them, they threw Jonah into the churning depths of the sea. By the time Jonah hit the water, he had already resigned himself to his fate. As far as he was concerned, he was a dead man. God, however, had other plans. Slowly but surely, Jonah was drowning. Although he had been able to remain afloat for a few minutes, all of his strength was now gone. After fighting for one last breath, his weakened body began to descend into the depths of the sea. Just as he was losing consciousness, however, he was swallowed alive by a gigantic fish. When he finally came to, he was screaming, “Oh, my God! This must be hell!” After a few moments, Jonah realized it was far too cold and clammy to be hell. Maybe it was someplace even worse. He was lying in a foot of water; the air itself reeked with the smell of rotten fish. The darkness was so thick that he couldn’t even see his hand in front of his face. From time to time, fresh air would be released into the chamber as well as faint rays of light. Then he figured it out. “Lord,” he whispered, “I’ve been swallowed by a whale.” In the depths of the whale, however, God was working on his servant. As horrible as the whale’s belly was, Jonah knew that he had been shown tremendous mercy by the God against whom he had rebelled. “Lord, forgive me,” Jonah wept. “If you release me from this whale, I will go to Nineveh, but even if you don’t free me, I will die worshiping you with all my heart.” While he was confessing his sins, Jonah could feel the beginnings of a new joy filling his heart. Before he knew it, he was singing and worshiping God. When the Lord saw Jonah’s repentance, He commanded the fish to vomit Jonah out of its mouth. This time, when God spoke to Jonah, Jonah immediately left for the great city of Nineveh. Where are you today? Maybe like Jonah, you have been swallowed up by the consequences of your sin and rebellion. If this is where you find yourself today, take heart. The same God who delivered Jonah from the whale’s belly is also able to deliver you. The timing of your deliverance, though, will be determined by you; for you will not be set free until you have learned the lessons that God is trying to teach you. Like Jonah, you must repent of your rebellion. Instead of blaming God for his horrible circumstances, Jonah faced that fact that his own rebellion was the cause of his terrible plight. This revelation gave him the strength he needed to truly repent. Next, Jonah did not have worldly sorrow. He was not repenting in order to escape from the stomach of the whale. As far as he was concerned, his fate was already sealed. He was repenting because he had grieved the heart of God. Jonah also made a fresh commitment to serve the Lord. When he promised to fulfill his vows (vs. 9), he was committing to obey God for the rest of his life, no matter how long it lasted. In my opinion, this was probably the very thing God was waiting for, because the moment Jonah made a new commitment, God released him from his imprisonment. Do you see it yet? The same God who sent a whale to swallow Jonah has allowed you to be imprisoned by the consequences of your stubbornness and rebellion. It is important, however, to see your imprisonment as something far different from punishment. In reality, your loving heavenly Father is disciplining you in order to deal with the attitudes that have kept you from fully obeying His will. Once you have fully responded to God, like Jonah, you too will be projected into your destiny! © Copyright 2005 by Jim Laffoon |
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Behind the natural circumstances you are facing, the dark forces of hell are at work to bring shame, failure, and discouragement to your life. Once you realize this, half the battle will be over. |
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