Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
When was the last time you were in trouble? Where did you look? What did you do? The feelings that you might have felt. How did you get out of the trouble that you were in?
Our Verse of the Day really talks of a character that probably most of us know. It’s Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of a big fish, and he cried out. Our Verse of the Day is Jonah chapter 2, verse 2. "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!'"
What a tremendous and wonderful little story here in Jonah. We love this story. Jonah has been running from God’s call. Jonah experiences God’s discipline and finds himself in the belly of a great fish. From the depths, in the middle of the fish’s belly, he cries out to the Lord. Very simply, in this passage, we discover two encouraging principles about God’s pursuing grace for you and for me.
God Uses Trouble to Draw Us Back
Number one, God uses trouble to draw us back to Himself. God uses the trouble in your life. He uses the trouble in my life to draw us back to Himself. Jonah said, “I cried to the LORD in my great trouble.” As soon as he got in the belly of a fish, he was praying, and he cried out to God.
Where do you go? Where do I go? When trouble hits our life, it’s easy to go to our phones, which is fine, all kinds of things to distract us. But the right place to go is where Jonah did: to God.
As a matter of fact, if you’re in trouble right now—and I say this respectfully, not to condemn you, but to encourage you—if you’re in a very difficult situation right now, this might be one of the best things for you, because God is getting your attention.
With respect to Jonah, remember, Jonah didn’t want to go. That’s what the chapter before was all about. Jonah saying, I don’t want to go, Lord. One writer said, “What rebellion would not teach Jonah, hardship did.” By the way, the fish was primarily not punishment for Jonah. The fish was the rescue that God brought. He rerouted the fish to make sure that it swallowed Jonah.
God brought Jonah so low to help him rediscover that salvation ultimately belongs to the Lord, and the storm and the fish are expressions of God’s pursuing and wooing grace for Jonah. Does difficulty not often lead us to depend upon God?
Desperation Leads Us to Pray
Number two, Jonah was not only drawn back to the Lord because of his desperation, but secondly, his desperation led him to pray. He says it in the verse, “I cried to the LORD in my great trouble.” I love that. God can handle your trouble. You can go to Him right now. You don’t have to clean yourself up. You don’t have to try to be spiritual. Go to God. He wants to hear you: the good, the ugly, the mess, whatever it is.
Jonah went to Him. “He answered me. I called to You, God, from the land of the dead, and Lord, You heard me.”
Jonah’s at the end of himself, and he finally looked up. This trouble exposed his need. Again, these types of desperate moments should lead us to pray and depend upon God.
Let Trouble Drive You to God
How do we get this into shoe leather commitment, into our life and application? Number one, let trouble drive you to God, not away from Him. I said it earlier. The very trouble that you’re going through, let it drive you to God. Let it bring you to God, who will help you. Cast all your cares upon Him, because He cares for you.
You say, well, Rick, I’m kind of a skeptic. I mean, seriously, the Jonah story? I mean, he’s in the belly of a big fish. Well, there’s an interesting story. In 1891, a sailor named James Bartley was said to have been swallowed by a sperm whale and was rescued alive three days later. Some people call it legend. You can call it what you want.
We do know this, there was a confirmed case in 2021, when a Massachusetts lobster diver named Michael Packard was briefly trapped in the mouth of a humpback whale for about 30 to 40 seconds before he was spit out unharmed. We can go through all kinds of things that we surmise happened. Jonah was in the belly of a fish, and he actually prayed to a God who was real. Let trouble drive you to God.
Turn to the God of Pursuing Mercy
Number two, and finally, turn your deepest troubles to a God of pursuing mercy. I love this. Turn your deepest troubles, the hardest issues, the junk you’re going through, and let it drive you to the God of pursuing mercy.
Look at the map, by the way, in the story of Jonah. God called Jonah east to Nineveh, and Jonah fled west to Tarshish, running the opposite direction of God’s will. In Jonah chapter 1, verses 1 to 3, Jonah ran from God, and yet God still pursued him. That’s called amazing grace. You don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve it. That is the God whom we serve, a God who serves and helps us because He pursues us. Never let your failures keep you from God, because God pursues you and me with mercy.
As you live your life, as you’re going through maybe a difficult time, let it drive you to the God who loves you and who gave His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who forgave you of all of your sins. If you know Him, He wants to hear you pray to Him, no matter how bad it is. Let trouble drive you to the Savior. Even though you’ve been running from Him, He’s ready for you to come back and to pursue you with mercy. Reach out to Him. He’s a faithful and loving Lord, Jesus Christ.
