In The Belly Of The Fish
Jonah 1:17; 2:1-2,10 (NLT)
Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. He said,
“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble,
and he answered me.
I called to you from the land of the dead,
and Lord, you heard me!
Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.
In today’s reading, we see Jonah reaping the logical consequence of not following God’s will, as God arranges for a ‘great fish’ to swallow Jonah and he was inside the fish for three days and three nights. What struck me immediately when I first read the book of Jonah is the way Jonah positions how he sees God’s help within this situation. In verse 2:1, it says that Jonah prays a prayer from inside the fish. The text then recites a long prayer (worth reading if you have time), but from the verses quoted here, you can see that Jonah is praying as if God has already answered him. Verse 2:2 reads: ‘he answered me’ and ‘you heard me’. Yet there is not any evidence at this point that the prayers were heard, as his circumstances had not changed.
The way Jonah prays, highlights faith of a nature that does not doubt that God will help him. In fact, it is a faith that knows that God is his helper and will not let him down. This kind of faith will call out the solution as if the work is already done regardless of what our five senses are saying (in Jonah’s case he was still inside the fish but was already thanking God for his deliverance because he was so sure).
It is sometimes challenging for us as Christians to have this strength of faith - in fact we often feel condemned for not ‘having enough faith’. Perhaps a better way of looking at faith is seeing it as ‘trust’. Trust in God only builds from being in close relationship with him and knowing his true character as the God who loves us and helps us find a way. Shortly after Jonah prays his prayer, God delivers Jonah out of the fish and back onto the beach.
Prayer - Lord help us to know you more intimately and know your true character so that we can trust and have the faith that we can rely on your help in every time of need.