The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Jonah 2:2,
"In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry."
Jonah had run from the Lord. The Lord had given him an assignment, as a prophet, to go and preach to the Gentile city of Nineveh. Instead of going, he ran from the Lord. He boarded a ship and en route to Tarshish he was thrown overboard by the sailors when a storm hit the boat. While in the sea, a huge fish swallowed him up and there he was stuck for three days.
I can't think of a way to feel further from the Lord. Rejecting the Lord and running from him, thrown overboard, swallowed by a fish and stuck for three days! That is finding yourself about as far removed from the Lord in this life as it can possibly feel.
And yet from this dark removed place Jonah prayed. Jonah acknowledged his prayer would rise to the Lord in his holy temple, 2:7. We are told the Lord commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto the dry ground, which it did.
I am reminded that we can never find ourselves beyond the reach of the Lord. No matter where it is we go, or what we have done, we are never in a place we cannot call out to God.
Along with David, any of us can call out to the Lord, "This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles." Psalm 34:6.
"In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry."
Jonah had run from the Lord. The Lord had given him an assignment, as a prophet, to go and preach to the Gentile city of Nineveh. Instead of going, he ran from the Lord. He boarded a ship and en route to Tarshish he was thrown overboard by the sailors when a storm hit the boat. While in the sea, a huge fish swallowed him up and there he was stuck for three days.
I can't think of a way to feel further from the Lord. Rejecting the Lord and running from him, thrown overboard, swallowed by a fish and stuck for three days! That is finding yourself about as far removed from the Lord in this life as it can possibly feel.
And yet from this dark removed place Jonah prayed. Jonah acknowledged his prayer would rise to the Lord in his holy temple, 2:7. We are told the Lord commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto the dry ground, which it did.
I am reminded that we can never find ourselves beyond the reach of the Lord. No matter where it is we go, or what we have done, we are never in a place we cannot call out to God.
Along with David, any of us can call out to the Lord, "This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles." Psalm 34:6.
How wonderful is that?!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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