A Hopeless Situation Series

The early settlers of the New England Colonies knew

what it was to suffer and to endure great difficulties. They

had frequent days of fasting and prayer on which they

would bring their distresses before God. Constant dwelling

on the sorrows of life led them to be gloomy and

discontented. Some even decided to go back to their

fatherland and face persecution. Finally, at one of the

meetings where it was proposed to appoint a day of fasting

and prayer, one of the old colonists who had apparently

been doing some deep thinking, stood and said that he

thought they had done enough brooding over their

misfortunes and that it was high time they started to

consider some of their blessings.

He went on to point out that the fields were increasing in

harvests, the rivers were full of fish, the woods were full of

game, the air was sweet, the climate was good, and they

possessed what they had come for, which was full civil and

religious liberty. His advise was taken, and they proclaimed

a day of feasting and praise, and that is why we have a day

of Thanksgiving arising out of a situation that appeared to

many to be hopeless.

Thanksgiving is a necessity in the life of a believer, for

without it there is a tendency to dwell on the dark side of

life. It is real, but it is not eternal. It is not an adequate

foundation on which to build a life of faith. Jonah realized

this, and he is one of the best examples in Scripture of what

a believer's attitude ought to be in a hopeless situation.

When I say hopeless, I mean from a human standpoint, and

without divine intervention. This is the kind of situation

Jonah was in when he was cast into the sea. We want to

examine his reaction because it holds much instruction as to

how a believer should respond in a hopeless situation. The

first thing we want to establish is the timing of Jonah's

prayer.

In 2:1 we read the word then, and the question is when?

If we take it in chronological order from 1:17, it would be at

the conclusion of the 3 days and nights in the fish's belly.

Does it make any difference when he said it? Yes, for the

time of it explains why it is strictly a prayer of thanksgiving

and dedication without any requests. If this was a prayer at

the beginning of his experience, it would be one of crying out

for deliverance, but here he refers back to that original cry

for help in the past, and now he give thanks that it was

heard. He recalls his experience of sinking in the sea, and of

his cry for help after he had lain unconscious in the fish for 3

days. Now he has regained consciousness just before he is

vomited out.

This means that Jonah is still in a humanly hopeless

situation, but he does not look at it from that angle. He

dwells instead on the fact that God heard his prayer and has

kept him alive. He is thankful in the midst of a horrible and

hopeless situation. He does not at this point have any

promise that he will be delivered, but he has faith to believe

that if God spared him from drowning, He will also spare

him from the fish as well. He didn't even ask for it,

however, for he was so grateful for his deliverance thus far

that he could only think of commitment and vows. This

ought to be our attitude always. We have been delivered

from the greatest crisis in the universe. We have escaped

damnation through Christ, and our gratitude ought to

outweigh all the aggravations and burdens of present trials.

The basic attitude of the Christian is to be one of

thanksgiving. It may sound unrealistic, but it is really not if

one is fully aware of what it means to be saved. Jonah was

still in a mess, but he was so conscious of the mercy and

presence of God that he could be joyful even in the very jaws

of death. One of the values of prayer is that it is possible when

nothing else is. If one is conscious, one can pray anywhere

at any time under any circumstance. No prayer was ever

offered from a more perilous place than this prayer of

Jonah, and yet it was heard with no more difficulty than if

offered from a church or prayer room. If God can hear and

answer prayer from the depths of the sea, He can do so

under any possible circumstance. This prayer of Jonah

makes it clear that where you are and what your position is

makes no difference. Sam Walter Foss wrote this poem