Thursday, June 9, 2016

Slimy Salvation!

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From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God:
When I was in trouble, Lord, I prayed to you, and you listened to me.

From deep in the world of the dead, I begged for your help, and you answered my prayer. You threw me down to the bottom of the sea.

The water was churning all around; I was completely covered by your mighty waves.

I thought I was swept away from your sight, never again to see your holy temple. I was almost drowned by the swirling waters that surrounded me.

Seaweed had wrapped  around my head. I had sunk down deep below the mountains beneath the sea.  I knew that forever, I would be a prisoner there.  But, you, Lord God, rescued me from that pit.

Jonah 2:1-6

There are two prayers in this chapter of Jonah. He is in the fish praying to God about the first prayer, which was the one Jonah prayed while he was about to drown in the sea!

I like the mention of seaweed wrapped about his head. If you have even gone wading in a pond you know that getting tangled in seaweed is a rather disconcerting experience and to say the least slimy! Jonah knew for certain that he was only a few moments from dying. No one had ever been rescued from such a predicament. To put is plainly there was no hope for Jonah! Jonah had run away from God and his judgment was drowning in the sea.
But then God sent a fish to swallow Jonah. The initial response to being in the belly of the fish must have been total elation. He was not dead and he could breathe! What an amazing thing. God had saved him!

But it was dark, slimy and I'm certain smelled like dead fish! The vessel God used to rescue Jonah was not a pleasant place to be. On top of that the fish got "sick at his stomach" and Jonah came up with the vomit on the shore!

Have you ever been rescued by God after running away from Him? Can you identify with Jonah in that the "belly of your fish" is not a pleasant place to be? The answer to that problem is this: As soon as your fish spits you up on the shore, run to do God's will and never quit running after God instead of away from Him!

"Lord, keep me from the sin of Jonah. Remind me that running away from You is not a pleasant place to be. And Lord, even though I have complained I thank You for the great fish in my life that has rescued me from my own foolishness and sin. Thank You Jesus. Amen."






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