Desperation Can Lead to Deliverance
“Most people when they hear the story of Jonah wonder what was going on inside the fish. But the real story concerned what was going on inside of Jonah.” – Tony Walliser
Read Jonah 2:1-10
Desperation Can Lead to Deliverance
The book of Jonah reads kind of like a soap opera, a rollercoaster of wild experiences and emotions. When last we saw Mr. Jonah (the Scriptures don’t give his last name), he was spending three days and three nights inside what the Bible calls “a great fish.” We often hear Jonah is ‘a whale of a tale,’ but according to God’s Word it’s a fish.
No matter. Can you imagine what it would be like – how you’d feel – to be trapped in the belly of a huge sea creature, wallowing in gastric juices, overwhelmed by noxious odors, and being tossed about every time the fish changes direction? Maybe in Heaven we’ll be able to ask Jonah about it.
What we do know is this is how God got the attention of the most reluctant prophet of all time. When commanded to go to wicked, pagan Nineveh to preach the message of salvation, Jonah decided he had a better idea and chose to go in the opposite direction, boarding a ship bound for Tarshish. ‘Those sinners don’t deserve to be saved!’
When the ship got caught in a violent storm and was on the brink of capsizing, Jonah must have been thinking, ‘What was I thinking?!’ After everyone realized God had caused the storm because of his disobedience, the crew threw him overboard.
Three surprising things happened right after: The raging sea became calm. The crewmen, who had never given God a thought before, held a revival service. And gulp! Along came the fish and swallowed Jonah; thankfully for him, it did not chew. In essence, the Lord was giving him a three-day, three-night timeout – the most disgusting timeout ever.
We find a different Jonah in chapter 2, a desperate, repentant fellow who from the dank, dark insides of the fish cried out to God for help. “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…” (Jonah 2:1-2).
Even where he was, there was nothing fishy about this prayer. It was the plea of a broken man who had finally grasped the error of his ways. He declared, “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to You, in Your holy temple…. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord” (Jonah 2:7-9).
There’s more to this story, but at this point God invites us to pause and consider: Have you ever had a Jonah moment? Maybe you’re having one right now, and the Lord is waiting for you too to cry out for His help.
One-time atheist turned Christian apologist C.S. Lewis observed, drawing from his own experience, “God whispers to us in our pleasures but He shouts to us in our pain.” When everything in our lives seems to be going well, it’s easy to pat ourselves on the back and forget God is working in and through our circumstances. But in times of pain and adversity, we suddenly remember how desperately we need Him.
Maybe like Jonah you’ve been running from the Lord, or you’ve been ignoring what He’s asked you to do. Or maybe, like people in the church of Laodicea, you’ve been “lukewarm – neither hot nor cold” and God’s thinking, “I am about to spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16).
Is it time to humble yourself in prayer, calling out to God and inviting Him to take control of your life again? Or are you waiting until He puts you in the middle of a storm-tossed sea with a giant fish poised to swallow you up?
When King David had such a time of desperation, realizing how far he had drifted from the Lord, he prayed, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:10-12).
Could this prayer be worth repeating today? No doubt it’s a prayer God would be delighted to answer in the affirmative.