Jonah 1:17-2:10
Seaweed Prayers
July 26, 2009
Have you ever been involved in what I’ll call a situation? You know, it’s when life is getting pretty messy and you are trying your best to resolve that mess. You work at it and work at it, until finally, you realize there is no way out, and as a last resort you call on God. That is where we are this week as we continue our look at Jonah.
Jonah is the prophet who didn’t want to bring redemption to the people of Nineveh, so he sailed as far away as possible. When the ship was out at sea, God threw a storm its way, things were so bad that the ship itself thought it was going to sink. Jonah admitted to the sailors he was the reason for this supernatural storm. At Jonah’s request, the sailors reluctantly threw him overboard and the storm stopped and that is where our hero was when we last left him . . . sinking deeper and deeper into the cold, dark depths of the Mediterranean Sea. I’m sure you’ve been on the edge of your seat all week wondering how things were going to turn out!
Now comes one of the great miracles and most disbelieved stories in the Bible. God sent a big fish to swallow Jonah, thus saving his life. If God can create the heavens and the earth; create & and me; send Enoch and Elijah to heaven without dying; part the Red Sea; send Jesus from heaven; bring people back to life; heal the lepers, the blind, the lame, the deaf; resurrect Jesus; then is it that impossible for God to send a huge fish to swallow Jonah for a few days? I don’t think so.
Of course, if you were Jonah you were thrilled to be alive, but to live in a fish’s belly for 3 days, yuck!! Imagine the smell, imagine the . . . Oh, we won’t go in that direction. I take Jonah as a historical fact, nothing less.
In this 2nd chapter, Jonah describes the terror and intense anxiety of being helpless against the ocean currents swirling around him, the waves crashing upon him, pushing him deeper and deeper into the sea. Jonah tells us the water was closing in on him and there was no way back to the surface. In verse 5 he speaks of the horror of having water enter his throat and seaweed tangle itself around his head. And then finally he actually hits the bottom. We don’t know how deep the sea was, but just imagine the fear of feeling your feet strike the bottom knowing there was no way back up as your lungs are about to explode.
Have you ever experienced something like that when you were swimming in a pool, ocean or lake? About 20 years ago, I was snorkeling in the Florida Keys. I had been a competitive swimmer and a certified life guard, so I had no concerns about my safety. I saw beautiful coral not far from where the group was swimming. I knew coral was beautiful, but very sharp, so I went to investigate. As I was swimming over the coral, I could tell the coral was very close to the surface. I had to be careful and make sure I was on top of the water, and as I swam over the coral it became darker and it seemed that the coral reef was not going to end. I began to panic, I kicked harder and my breathing was shorter and I was gasping for air. Finally, I got out from the reef, but I was amazed at the panic that set in.
So, I can only imagine what Jonah is thinking as he sinks deeper and deeper into the Mediterranean Sea.
Just as Jonah was about to hit the bottom of the sea, stubborn old Jonah finally prayed . . . He asked God for help. I’m sure his prayer was nothing fancy, probably just two words, “Lord, help!” And hear comes the beauty of the book of Jonah, God answered that prayer. God had a fish on standby, and when Jonah prayed, He ordered this creature to rescue him. The fish swallowed Jonah.
I read a story about 3 ministers who were talking about effective positions for prayer. As they were talking, a telephone repairman was working on the phone system. One minister said, the key was in the hands. He always held his hands together and pointed them upward as a form of worship. The 2nd suggested real prayer was conducted on your knees. The 3rd explained they both had it wrong, the only worthy position was to pray while stretched out flat on your face. By this time the phone man couldn’t stay out of the conversation. He said, "I found the most powerful prayer I ever made was while I was dangling upside down by my heels from a power pole, 40 feet above the ground."
How about you, can you identify more with the pious pastors or the telephone repairman? Most of us can sympathize with the repairman. We’ve been down that road in our lives. When all is going well, we don’t give God too much consideration. After all, who needs God when all is going well? Actually, we do. We tend to forget about God and go after life on our own terms, until we realize we’re in a sinking ship, or worse yet, we’re the one who’s sinking, deeper and deeper into the abyss.
There are a few things we can learn from this episode in Jonah’s life. First, God answers our cry of distress even when we are guilty. Jonah wasn’t on his way to Nineveh when he was tossed overboard. He was running from God. He was guilty of disobedience. That’s why he was in the water. Maybe that rings a bell for some of us, maybe there are some here this morning who are in trouble right now precisely because of your disobedience. And if you’re wondering, "Is there hope? Will God have mercy on me and hear my cry of distress?" Take heart from Jonah — Jonah was as guilty as they come, but God gave him another chance.
Listen to the same scenario in Psalm 107:10-15: “Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High [like Jonah]… Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and GOD delivered them from their distress; GOD brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds of affliction. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works!”
If your disobedience is the cause of your distress, repent and cry to the Lord. He will answer you!!
Second, God answers us in spite of his judgment. Notice verse 3: "For you cast me into the deep." While it was the sailors who literally picked Jonah up and threw him into the water, you know who was behind it all. Jonah knew that God was the author of all that was occurring in his life. God was angry at Jonah, and nothing could be worse than to have the Creator of the universe angry at you, and disciplining you. In Psalm 119:71 we read, “It was good for me to be afflicted, so that I might learn your decrees.” Not many of us would like to make that comment, yet most of us only learn when we go through the difficult times in life.
Third, God answers us and delivers us from impossible circumstances. Verses 5 and 6 describe the extremity of Jonah’s plight: "The waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me, seaweed was wrapped around my head. I sank down to the roots of the mountains, and the earth barred me in forever.”
It seems that in the Christian life trials, tribulations and trouble comes in batches. They don’t get spaced out in proportion to our powers to cope. Circumstances develop to the point where we can’t see any way out. It’s at those times that we need to remember Jonah. It was an impossible situation. Yet, in Matthew 19:26, Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Is anything possible with God? Yes, because nothing is impossible with God.
We need to remember to come to God. If we don’t cry out, if we don’t trust God is on our side, then we will attempt to solve our storms on our own, and that will never work. But, when we cry to the Lord in our distress He answers us and can deliver us from the impossible.
Even as I say these words, some of you are thinking that’s baloney. You’ve witnessed tragedies in life. You’ve seen loved ones who were too young . . . die. You have seen horrific atrocities, and you wonder, okay, so where’s God? Make sense out of that Mr. Pastor!
And frankly, I can only tell you I trust and believe God has a plan and a purpose for each of us and our loved ones. Unfortunately, we don’t get a glimpse into the heavenly thought process. When someone dies who we think shouldn’t, we just don’t have insight into God’s ultimate plan. It does not make sense, not in a human way. It never does and maybe we never figure out the plan. Because we can spend an eternity and beyond trying to figure it out, but we may still be stuck asking all the why’s. Instead, God promises us He will never fail us, He will never abandon us, He will never give up on us, He will always, always love us.
God’s plan is for redemption, but that doesn’t always make sense when we grieve. It didn’t make sense last week, last year, 30 years ago, or 2,000 years ago . . . and it still doesn’t today. Yet, I believe God delivers us, I hold to the words from Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Sometimes, the greatest gift God can give us or our loved ones is to bring them into a new life with Him in heaven, where there is no pain, no hunger and no tears. Even though that’s 100% against what we want. So, we trust, believe and have faith, God has the answers,
Fourth, God answers our cries of distress in stages, not all of which are comfortable. We must get out of our head the all or nothing notion of answered prayer. We can be fairly sure that when Jonah cried out to God he didn’t say: "O God, put me in the belly of a fish for three days!" He probably said, "God have mercy upon me, save me!" But God’s answer came in stages. The belly of a fish hardly seems like salvation. But it was. Jonah was granted enough consciousness to realize he had been spared from drowning and that there is hope. He doesn’t complain about his surroundings. He accepts God’s first stage of salvation as a guarantee of dry land, and concludes his prayer in the fish’s belly with the great affirmation, "Salvation belongs to the Lord."
Don’t disregard the partial works of God. If he chooses to save and to heal by stages He has His good purposes, and we ought to be grateful for any improvement in our condition. A fish’s belly is better than weeds at the bottom of the sea.
Finally, God answers us because He is merciful. He is a God of mercy, who is slow to anger, and abounds in love and grace. So the next time you find yourself sinking to the depths of the cold and unforgiving waters of life, know that God desires more than anything that you would just call on Him. James 4:7 is a great reminder, ‘draw near to God and He will draw near to you.’ We must take the first step and I pray that today, you will make that first step toward our God of love.
Psalm 30:4-6, 10-12
[4] Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones! Praise his holy name.
[5] His anger lasts for a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning.
[6] When I was prosperous I said, "Nothing can stop me now!"
[10] Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me. Help me, O Lord."
[11] You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
[12] that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!
