Jonah 2 Turning Point
Jonah is in the belly of a great fish. There comes a turning point in Jonah’s heart where he calls out to God. Not just “Save me”, but “I’m sorry.”
Jonah wanted nothing to do with the mission God had for him. He tried running away, but wound up trapped instead. That is until he surrendered to God’s plan. “What I have vowed I will pay” (Jonah 2:9b).
After this, God was ready to get Jonah going back on the path He set him on. And He placed him right where he needed to go! Let’s join Jonah in the belly of the fish as his heart changes. Lead me to where I need to go Holy Spirit.
♥ ♦ ♥
After exploring his surroundings, Jonah sits back down. He still has no idea where he is or what is going on. There is an occasional light at the very top of the enclosure. It opens after there is an accumulation of water, which rushes in like a wave, in the cavern Jonah is in. The water is expelled through the upper opening quickly and then it closes again.
Jonah watches this cycle for some time. “If I can time it just right, I might be able to get out of here” he says to himself. Counting seconds and minutes proves futile. The openings don’t have a particular pattern; or at least none that he can discern.
One of the most disturbing things about his surroundings is their ability to flip him from side to side and occasionally turn completely upside down. Jonah begins to get angry at his situation. He pounds the surface where he sits, channeling all his frustration into it. He gets a violent shake in response to his efforts. “It’s clear that I’m not in a cave and that I am somehow moving inside this… whatever it is.”
After trying to find a way out and becoming angry, Jonah starts feeling sorry for himself. “I KNEW it was a stupid idea to try and run away from God. Why doesn’t he just kill me and get it over with. I’m going to starve to death in here and no one will ever know what became of me.”
Jonah lays down to sleep. He tries to sleep as much as possible, hoping that one time he simply won’t wake up. But that doesn’t happen either. Finally, after who knows how much time has passed, he starts thinking about why he is still alive. “I should have drowned in the sea. It appears that I am tucked away inside something and that God is keeping me safe inside it. So, He still has a purpose for my life. One which I have stubbornly refused to take on. I need to repent and let Him take it from there.”
Fully committed to whatever God has for him next, Jonah raises his eyes towards what he believes is heavenward and prays.
“Lord God of all creation. I KNOW I don’t deserve Your protection or Your hand upon my life. I have sinned against You and run from Your presence. Yet, even in this place that You have brought me to, I am not alone. I hear Your voice calling to me. Showing me the way to salvation. Rescue me my Lord and I will do as You command for the rest of my life. I will NEVER run from Your presence again.”
As soon as Jonah finishes his sincere prayer, his environment begins to contract. It begins rolling and pressing in on him. He is afraid that now he is finally going to die. Jonah is pressed forward towards the front of his enclosure and shoved through a narrow opening. Then he is spewed out into waist deep water. Jonah turns in time to see a MASSIVE fish moving away from him. He instantly KNOWS that this has been where the Lord has kept him safe for so long.
Jonah wades to the shore and falls to his knees. He raises his voice in praise to his God.
“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 breakers and your waves 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. To 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” (Jonah 2:1-9).
Jonah has no idea how long his has been inside the fish or where he has landed. He only knows that he is grateful to be out and that he is hungry.
(to be continued)
When the fish vomited out Jonah, we are not told that he had to make a long journey to Nineveh. There are 370 miles from the closest sea shore to Nineveh. It was over 500 miles from Joppa to Nineveh. If the sea coast was his landing spot, he was closer that in the beginning, but still had some distance to cover. Unless God sent the fish up the Tigris River. Nineveh was on the banks of this river. Who knows for certain, but this would have allowed less time for Jonah to change his mind again if he were withing ‘spitting distance’ of Nineveh. But then God wouldn’t have been able to put Jonah’s promise to the test that way. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and a resolute heart.
Father God, You have put me onto paths that I had to determine to take that first step and see where the road took me. Every time I went back to school, I faced that same struggle. Do I dare step out? What happens if I can’t do it? Where will this road really lead me?
YOU gave me the courage to take the first step. And You used each hurdle along the journey to draw me closer to You. My path hasn’t taken me where I thought it would, but it has brought me to where I’m supposed to be. Or I pray that I am where You want me. I wasn’t given a ‘city name’ or firm destination to arrive at. Yet, I trust You to guide my journey, even when I miss a turn or two. Thank You for the lessons along the way.
