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! You threw me into the ocean depths,
and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me;
I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.
Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence.
Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’
“I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me.
Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.
I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.
I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever.
But you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!
As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord.
And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. (Jonah 2:2-7)
A Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Sadly, Jonah's idols of self and comfort returned not long after the prayer was finished and his life was spewed back into normalcy. As he rages over the death of a plant and the saving of Nineveh, Jonah doesn’t want to see the God who saved him. The scene brings to mind Isaiah's description: "Surely the hand of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear, but...your sins have hidden his face from you" (59:1-2). Even so, the book ends on a note bidding us to see that God is always about the work of salvation. Whether in the lives of nations "who know not their right from their left" or in the lives of men and women blind with self and sin, God moves faithfully among us. Might we remember in distress and in safety, salvation comes from the LORD.
Comments:
How often it seems we push against God to enact our plan upon the world. May we continually be mindful of Jesus' prayer to Our Father: Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done! In what ways might we bring about the kingdom of God today? Jesus went about declaring that the kingdom of heaven is at hand while teaching, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, etc. In what way can I bring teaching, dignity and healing into the lives of those I come in contact with. Perhaps it is buying a homeless man a cup of coffee. Perhaps it is simply listening to the cashier at the store when I'm in a rush. Perhaps it is moving forward in real relationship with a close friend. Perhaps it is healing the sick. God, please grant us each the courage to let your life live through us.
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