“I called out to the Lord from my distress, and he answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried out for help, and you heard my prayer.”
Into the Text
This week, we’re focusing on how God has rescued us from darkness through Jesus’ work on the cross. We deserved death, but Jesus took the penalty we deserved on Himself. He saved us from the depths of suffering and pain. As we prepare our hearts for Easter, it is important to remember that we have been saved from hell and eternal damnation and that we needed saving because we have all sinned. The joy of the resurrection is limited when our understanding of the severity of sin is limited.
Jonah was a prophet in Israel. God gave him specific instructions to preach to the city of Nineveh and tell them to repent. But Jonah refused. He disobeyed God and headed the other way. God sent a storm because of Jonah’s disobedience, and he was thrown into the sea. Then, he was swallowed by a great fish.
After three days in the fish, Jonah humbled himself before God. He recognized that his disobedience had consequences and that God had saved him from death. God had saved Jonah by commanding a big fish to swallow him.
Jonah understood that God had saved him, and he praised God. Before God had the fish return Jonah to dry land, before Jonah had been saved from the fish, he praised God for sparing his life.
Jonah recognized the significance of his sin and what God had saved him from. In his distress, he called out to God and God answered him. No matter where we are today, no matter what we’ve done, or how we’ve run from God, we can still cry out to Him. He is the God who saves and redeems, even from the darkest places. He can redeem and save any situation. All we need to do is cry out to Him.