in the belly of the whale

Jonah 2

Jonah's Prayer

 ¹ From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. ² He said:
       "In my distress I called to the LORD,
       and he answered me.
       From the depths of the grave ^[a] I called for help,
       and you listened to my cry.

 ³ You hurled me into the deep,
       into the very heart of the seas,
       and the currents swirled about me;
       all your waves and breakers
       swept over me.

 ⁴ I said, 'I have been banished
       from your sight;
       yet I will look again
       toward your holy temple.'

 ⁵ The engulfing waters threatened me, ^[b]
       the deep surrounded me;
       seaweed was wrapped around my head.

 ⁶ To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
       the earth beneath barred me in forever.
       But you brought my life up from the pit,
       O LORD my God.

 ⁷ "When my life was ebbing away,
       I remembered you, LORD,
       and my prayer rose to you,
       to your holy temple.

 ⁸ "Those who cling to worthless idols
       forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

 ⁹ But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
       will sacrifice to you.
       What I have vowed I will make good.
       Salvation comes from the LORD."

 ¹⁰ And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

How amazing. Jonah was stuck in a whale for 3 days and instead of indulging in complaints and wallowing in self-pity he looked  and remembered the Lord; he prayed to God and chose to remember Him.  He thanked God.  Incredible.  As soon as he did this the Lord commanded the fish to vomit him out onto dry land. 

Thankfulness seems to be the key to deliverance.  Thankfulness saves us from seeing things through our flesh and instead helps us to see things through God's eyes.  Jonah in his thankfulness was able to declare, "those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs".  He saw that God's grace in the midst of his trial.  Thankfulness is the glasses we need to wear in order to see things beyond our circumstances.

Lord, I want to be thankful always.  Even though this trial is hard and all I see is darkness all around me, give me the vision to see not my circumstances but your grace that has been carrying me and sustaining me throughout this journey.  Amen.

 

Comments

[Jubilant]

Thank you for sharing this Anna!!! I've been realizing little by little that this is so true ~ He is full of joy and wants us to come to him with thankful hearts to experience deeper joy in Him...your sharing has brought further insight to my fledgling thoughts...I'm blessed by your journey, Anna...thinking of you and praying for you,wishing you and Aaron a beautiful and blessed Christmas and new year!love,julie