MEDITATIONS FROM THE MINOR PROPHETS

 

November 29, 2006

Reading: Jonah 2:1-9

“Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the fish’s belly” Jonah 2:1

Most people in the civilized world are familiar with the story of Jonah to one extent or another, whether it be to mock the story, accept it by faith simply because it is in the Bible, or because its truths have been applied to their heart by the Holy Spirit. Thankfully, my soul, you are in the last category. One of those truths so wonderfully taught in this chapter is that no matter how dire the circumstance in which you find yourself, you can call out to your Lord and He will hear you.

This brings great comfort to your soul. Jonah found himself in the belly of the great fish because he took it upon himself to challenge God. God told him to go one way and he fled in another. In short, he disobeyed God. Jonah was a man of God; if he wasn’t, God would never have told him to go to Ninevah and preach His Word.

How wonderful:

"I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction, and He answered me” Jonah 2:2.

Take time to contemplate what is said here. Jonah could never have imagined himself in such a severe situation. Was it not a miracle that, with seaweed wrapped around his head, he sank to the bottom of the ocean, and still lived? Was it not an even greater miracle that a fish swallowed him and he found oxygen in it’s stomach? Here he was, flailing around in the sour, acidic, half digested contents of that stomach, and the Holy Spirit enabled him to cry out to the Lord—and the LORD heard him. Is not God teaching you that, no matter your circumstance, you can cry to Him and He will hear you? What a wonderful truth for the people of God to grasp and learn. Listen to Jonah’s testimony:

“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD” Jonah 2:7.

How faithful God is. Do you have any doubt that it was the Holy Spirit who placed the thought in his heart to remember and cry out to the Lord? This is not to say that the Lord will always deliver His ‘Jonahs’ from the belly of the great fish. However, the truth remains that you can always remember Him, and call out to Him with the assurance that He will always hear. Remember those early Christians who died in the Roman arenas, and those whose bodies were burned at the stake. Remember those who, today, are persecuted to death because they believe in Jesus Christ. Even when God calls upon them to be a martyr in His name, He will hear their cry and give them His strength to endure.

There is no doubt that you can always call out to your Savior and that He will hear you. He is never out of hearing range and no circumstance is beyond His control.