My biggest fear could quite possibly be sharks in the hugeness of the ocean! The stories that are told of surviving  a plane crash or a boat sinking only to be left in the deep, dark water with sharks bumping into you are horrifying to me! Shark Week is a fearsome phenomena for me to watch!

In the ocean, there are other great unknowns….and the massive size of them are a wonder to my mind! I cannot comprehend how BIG a body of water is when a blue whale is small inside it (their average size is 79-82 feet long and they weigh over 300,000 lbs!!).

Did you know that there is estimated to be 10,000-25,000 blue whales alive today? The oceans are so big that we cannot even count all of them by site- and I doubt you could miss seeing one if it was there!

Jonah was not tossed into the Pacific Ocean but he did go into the Great Sea on his way to Tarshish…and it was there he sunk, waiting to drown in the storm- churned, darkened water when something from below, from the great, deep, unknown came up to swallow him.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

 For me, I don’t know if that is saving me or putting me into my worst nightmare!!

I would dare to surmise that Jonah may have felt the same! Remember, he did not know his whole story just yet- he had no clue of the ending. Jonah felt he deserved to die for disobeying God and perhaps thought God was going to go about it in an incredibly terrifyingly creative way.

This is exactly the spot where those two scriptures I keep mentioning need to be remember and applied:

1.

AND

2.

There are many stories in the Bible that speak of God talking through dreams or Jesus talking in parables- this is not one of those stories. It is placed in the Bible as a book that is written as a historical narrative- as if it happened. It does not begin with “Once Upon a Time” or as if it were a “Tall Tale”. There is nothing exaggerated or magically pretend about the story of Jonah- who was a real man that had been previously written about as prophet of God.

This story of Jonah has been written to teach us something, to rebuke or correct us into the ways of righteousness…let’s remember that as we enter into the belly of a fish…

What would you do if you were Jonah and this fish swallowed you?

He went into the water thinking he would drown and instead was swallowed whole by a fish. I imagine his first thoughts would be that he would still die…perhaps slowly now instead of the quick death he assumed would happen.

When death did not come…he prayed.

Wouldn’t you???

He is in the belly of a fish: he did not drown nor did he die! A miracle of all miracles has just occurred and the God he knows is behind it!

Jonah was thankful.

Prior to all this, life had been going pretty good for Jonah who, as a prophet,  had “the ear of a king”. He had a place of good standing, a good reputation, perhaps even a good lifestyle…in that time of comfort, he maybe forgot who GOD really was…

It is so easy to forget God when life just seems good, isn’t it?

BUT, in the belly of the fish, Jonah was kind of at his lowest point. Yes, he did not drown, but he did not exactly know what was going to become of him did he? He is in a fish in the middle of the ocean after all.

So, he did what was natural and turned to God.

Don’t we do that as well?

We may not pray every day or spend time reading our Bible consistently, but when we are about to take a test- we ask God for help. When someone is sick- we ask God for help. When we are scared- we pray and ask God for help.

It becomes an out of balanced relationship when we turn to God only in the hard times and not in the good times…But, God still hears and listens -just as He heard Jonah from within the whale…it’s just that  He desired more out of a relationship with Jonah, with us-one where Jonah could TRUST HIM fully with all of his life.

Jonah’s words say it all:

In Jonah’s supreme awareness of who God was and where his salvation had come from, he promised to do whatever it is the Lord required of him even if it meant staying in the whale- he was the Lord’s chosen servant after all!

Jonah is able to express his thanks to God for God being God while he is still at his lowest of all lows! Again, he has no clue what second miracle is about to occur- we have read the book and know the ending, he has no idea what is going to happen.

The challenge of this part of the passage is not that Jonah has survived and is sitting inside a fish, it is in his thankful attitude when he sees no change in his circumstance coming his way.

Can I offer that kind of thanks when my darkest moments feel like I am also doomed to an existence within a belly of a stinky whale- in a place where I feel trapped, confined, uncomfortable, scared? Or do I withhold my appreciation until the alleviation of my suffering?

After Jonah expresses his praise, this happens

AFTER JONAH TELLS GOD HOW THANKFUL HE IS THAT GOD HAS SAVED HIM-EVEN THOUGH HIS CIRCUMSTANCE HAD NOT CHANGED-THE LORD RELEASED HIM FROM THE FISH ONTO DRY LAND!

How many  times do I linger in my sorrow, my angst, my anxiety, my anger, my confusion, my self-doubt BEGGING  for a release?? How many times do I plead with the Lord TO TAKE THIS BURDEN FROM ME? Please Lord, lift this pain!

In those times, I am only focused on me…my pain…my problem…my discomfort…what I want…

The longer I sit in it the more I stew…and anger comes closer and closer to my heart.

Jesus also had an experience where He did not like what was asked of Him…He did not want to do what He had to do…It did not feel good to Him to anticipate the coming pain or to suffer exponentially as He did.

I know I have specifically said to God that “I don’t like this”, “I don’t want this”, and “it does not feel good to do this or not do that”.

Jesus even said “TAKE THIS CUP FROM ME”.

I know I have definitely pleaded for my trial and pain to be removed-for God to TAKE IT.

Ultimately, thankfully for all of our sakes, Jesus next said “Your will be done and not mine.”

God the Father’s will to be done….whatever that looks like…that’s what Jesus decided.

For Christ, it was being arrested falsely, abandoned by His friends, beaten and scourged, and then choosing to lay down to die the most horrific death possible- all while being separated from the love of the One who sent Him.

When Jonah chose to give thanks in the middle of his awful circumstance instead of asking to be removed from it, God released him.

The call to give thanks in all circumstances is very real.

Jesus did it- and He is our perfect example of which to follow.

Jonah did it- and he is our imperfect example of which to learn from.

Can I do it- and trust God to take care of me in the middle of my situation and to release me in His timing and way???

Remember~ Jonah was

from the whale.

He was not placed smoothly onto the shore. Instead, he was physically rejected and projected from within WITH EVERYTHING ELSE that had been inside there with him!

I doubt that was a pleasant experience.

Perhaps if he had given thanks a little sooner…there might be a life lesson in that…

Jonah is now on dry land…I imagine him being in absolute disbelief that this whole experience had just happened! He had to have stood up, shook the fish vomit off of himself, and looked around exclaiming

Then,

You better believe Jonah was listening!

Surprisingly, God next move was somewhat familiar:

Suddenly, we are back to square 1.