Sitting in the Pit

Photo Credit: She Reads Truth

(Read Jonah 2)

Author A.W. Tozer says, "In every generation, the people who have found God have been those who have come to the end of themselves. Recognizing their hopelessness, they have been ready to throw themselves on the mercy and grace of a forgiving God."

I am not one who seeks out trouble or thrills. I definitely do not look for tough times and trials. I prefer an even keeled life without falling into the pits and the darkness. But from my own experiences, it is in the pit - in the desert - in the darkness - that I experience God more intimately than I do from the safety and security of the easy days.

I have a feeling Jonah may have had second thoughts about urging the sailors to hurl him into the sea if he had known on the boat that he would end up in the belly of a fish. But had Jonah remained on the boat, he would have missed out on God's incredible display of mercy and grace! Once inside the fish, Jonah had some time to think and reflect about what he had just experienced - about what the Lord had just done for him - the rebel prophet. And for the first time since this story began, Jonah prayed to God.

What I find so fascinating about Jonah's prayer is that he was not asking for deliverance from the inside of the fish, which, if I'm honest, would probably be the very first thing I would have bellowed out to God! He was not begging for help or even asking why. Instead, Jonah was praising God and thanking Him for rescuing him from certain death - even if his rescue could still result in his death.

Jonah realized this: "Death is not the worst-case scenario; life without God is" (Kaitlin Wernet).

Let that sit for a minute.

Jonah had taken off as soon as he realized that God was asking him to do something he absolutely did not want to do - go to Nineveh and call out their sins against the Lord. And yet, here he sat, in the belly of the fish that the Lord had appointed, gratefully thanking God. Jonah had called out to the Lord, and not only did the Lord hear his prayer, but He answered him (v.2). "Jonah had done nothing to deserve being rescued; his salvation was by grace alone (ESV text note).

Jonah had not confessed or repented of his selfish actions. He was not interceding on behalf of the pagan sailors or the people in Nineveh. He does admit that "Salvation belongs to the Lord" (v.9), but he has yet to extend these thoughts beyond himself. He still did not understand that God's desire was not only to have grace and mercy on Jonah - or those Jonah deemed worthy of God's grace and mercy. God's desire then and now is that all people would turn to Him and away from the sin in their lives. He wants ALL people - to the ends of the earth - to know and confess that He is the One True God - that we would all recognize, even from the depths of despair, that life with Jesus is better than life without Jesus.

God chose to give Jonah mercy - not giving Jonah what he deserved. And God chose to give Jonah grace - giving him forgiveness that Jonah did not deserve and could never deserve. He had chosen Jonah to speak in Nineveh, and He was willing to extend His hand of mercy to Jonah to show His faithfulness and kindness. And sometimes we end up in the darkness of a figurative fish belly before we can fully see the magnitude of the Lord's graciousness.

I am learning to be thankful for the fact that God does not lay before me a timeline of crisis for me to study because I know I would attempt to steer my life around those moments, staying safe, but missing the blessing of God's grace and His presence in the midst of the moment.

That's the thing about God - He brings us to those places that we would never choose to go ourselves. He challenges us and stretches us to see beyond ourselves. He brings us to the places where we have to make tough choices - where we either lean on our own strength, or finally tap into His.