We read in Jonah 2:1-2, “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.” (CEV)
Jonah called out to the Lord his God from inside the belly of the great fish that swallowed him up. It took three days and three nights before Jonah cried out to God for help. In the midst of all the calamities that surrounded him, Jonah called out to the Lord from the depths of the sea. Jonah was in a place of anguish, and he referred to himself as being in the deep, where there seemed no hope for Jonah, but just the thought of impending death. When Jonah cried out to the Lord in those times of utter despair, the Lord heard and answered his prayer.
Many of us may have encountered those dark times, when we don’t really know what to do. However, if we call out to the Lord as Jonah did, the Lord will certainly give heed to our prayers. As you read this message, I believe the Lord will speak to your specific need, and give you answers to many of your doubts and questions that linger in your heart and mind.
Call unto God in times of trouble
The reason that God answered Jonah when he called out to God is mentioned in the verse below. We read in Psalm 50:15, God says, "Call me when trouble comes. I will help you, and you will honor me." (ERV)
Whenever we are challenged with trials and difficulties, we should first and foremost call out to God. Generally, when we have hard situations, we tend to run to people, looking for help and comfort from them. The Lord on the other hand, beckons us to cry out to Him, and when we do so, He guarantees us that He will deliver us. When that happens, we will spontaneously acknowledge that God alone frees us from all our troubles, and this will become a wonderful testimony of God’s goodness in our lives, and to those around us. Through all of this God will receive the honor for His power and intervention in our lives. Let us decide that no matter how hard the circumstances are, we will call out to the Lord right away.
I will share some incidents from the bible that will help us understand how this promise of God worked for the people of God.
1. The cry to change the bitter waters
We read in Exodus 15:25, And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them; (ERV)
The Hebrew root for the word to ‘to cry out’ is ‘vai-yitz-‘ak’ which actually means to exclaim with a loud voice. If we read this part of the bible narrative we realize that the Israelites had just crossed the Red Sea. God protected the Israelites and paved a way for them through the Red Sea, while the same waters drowned the Egyptian army that came in pursuit of them. When the Israelites reached the other shore safe and secure, they were jubilant and praised God for His mighty hand of deliverance. They realized that God had set them free from the cruel bondage of the Egyptians, and had brought them to a place of total freedom. However, within three days of crossing over the Red Sea, the Israelites were confronted with the challenge of having no water to quench the thirst of the multitudes of people who had crossed over. Their situation was grim and it seemed that their future was at stake without having water which is the basic necessity for life. It was at this time that they suddenly sighted water and rushed to the water to quench their thirst, only to find that the water was bitter and undrinkable.
It was in this crisis situation that Moses called upon the Lord. The Lord showed Moses a tree, and asked him to cast it into the water. Without a doubt or a question, Moses did as God commanded him to, and when he cast the tree into the water, the bitter water became sweet and drinkable. The bitterness did not just vanish away, but the bitterness was transformed to sweetness.
I would like to compare the bitter water to the bitterness that people harbor in their hearts. Let us think of the many relationships that have soured over the years, including those in our families, work place and sometimes even in the church. No matter what our bitter experiences are, the Lord beckons us to call unto Him. This root of bitterness is a dangerous thing to harbor in our hearts. These bitter roots are subtly hidden inside of our hearts, and sometimes we may not even be aware of them, until some issue arises. God alone can change our bitterness to sweetness, because Jesus bore that cruel cross on our behalf. When Jesus hung on the cross, He experienced the torture, scorn, cruelty and intense pain that was unjustly meted out to Him. However, in the midst of it all, Jesus declared forgiveness to those who treated him most unfairly and ruthlessly. If we too want to be rid of the bitterness in our lives, the secret is to extend forgiveness to those who have offended us. Oftentimes, we find it extremely difficult to forgive those who have wronged us. There are others who say that they can forgive, but are unable to forget the hurts that were caused as they were deeply hurt.
The Lord can transform our bitter relationships to become sweet and pleasant ones. If you are wondering how this is a possibility, just as Moses threw the tree into the water, believe on the work that Jesus accomplished for us on the cross of Calvary, and extend the same forgiveness to those who have caused these hurts in our lives. Let us deliberately choose to forgive others for all those harsh words they spoke to us, and all the evil they did against us, and truly our bitterness will turn to unbelievable sweetness.
2. The cry before a daunting sea
We read in Nehemiah 9:9, “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea” (ESV)
In the above mentioned verse the Hebrew word for ‘cry’ is the word ‘za-haq’ which actually means to cry with a loud voice. This was the predicament that the Israelites found themselves in. While the Egyptian army was in pursuit of them, they were also challenged with the Red sea ahead of them, and there seemed no way out for them. Looked like death was a certainty either ways, when the people cried out to the Lord in utter despair. As the people of Israel stood before the Red Sea, they had no clue that God would literally part the sea, so they could safely travel through, to the other side.
How often we have come to the place where we seem stuck unable to move in any direction? In those times, instead of looking around us, we need to lift up our eyes, and look to God instead. When we call out to God, He has a million ways in which He can bring a solution to the problems we face. We often lose hope because we cannot see a way out of the complex situation that we are caught in. There are numerous ways that God can intervene in our circumstances that we cannot even think or imagine about. Times when we are hard-pressed on every side, let us call unto God with faith, believing that He will give heed and bring deliverance in ways far beyond our understanding.
There may be a question on our minds, as to why the Lord brought the Israelites to the shores of the Red Sea, when there were so many other ways that He could have led them. The reason for this unique way of deliverance was that the Egyptians who enslaved and pursued the Israelites, would have no way to subdue them anymore, once they had crossed over the Red Sea to the other side.
Some of the problems and paths that the Lord takes us through, is for the sole purpose that we should have a permanent solution to some of the difficulties we face in our lives. God desires to give us total peace, and we need to keep in mind that those who trust in the Lord, will never be put to shame. Believe that God will intervene to bring us victorious out of every complex situation that we might find ourselves in.
As the people of Israel proceeded through the Red Sea, they must have been petrified to know that the Egyptian army too was following them through the same path. However, at the right time, when all the Israelites had safely crossed over, the Lord totally destroyed the entire Egyptian army that pursued the Israelites, when the waters came back to their place and drowned all of Pharaoh’s army. The word of God reminds us that we will reap what we sow, that’s exactly what happened to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. For many long years the Egyptians had enslaved and crushed the Israelites, and ruthlessly used them to build cities for themselves. They also did not remember that it was Joseph who saved the nation of Egypt at time when there was a severe famine all over the world. When Pharaoh and his men did evil and meted out injustice, God intervened to bring justice and judgement on all of them.
As children of God, if we call unto God in times of trouble, we too can be sure that God can mediate and bring about speedy deliverance. This will certainly baffle the eyes of all who see, and we will be able to glorify God through all of our triumphs. Instead of being confused and in despair, we must thank, looking unto Him, knowing that He will certainly liberate us from all our calamities.
3. The cry on the verge of drowning
We read in Matthew 14:30, “But while Peter was walking on the water, he saw the wind and the waves. He was afraid and began sinking into the water. He shouted, "Lord, save me!"” (ERV)
The Greek word used for the word ‘shouted’ is ‘krad-zo’ which actually means to shout out with a loud voice. When Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, he was bold enough to ask Jesus that he too should walk on the water. When Jesus told Peter to come, Peter began to walk on the water just as Jesus did. However, when Peter took his eyes off Jesus, and looked at the tumultuous sea and the raging storm, he was so terrified that he began to drown. It was as this moment that Peter shouted out to the Lord Jesus to save him from drowning. Immediately Jesus reached out to Peter and brought him to the safety of the boat.
In life too we will encounter various storms. The storms of opposition, those who rise against us and oppose us for no reason. We may face storms of failure or failure like situations, where we feel like losing heart. Sometimes we are challenged with the storms of need that we are unable to cope with, and have no idea how to handle. There are the storms of suffering that strike us at times which makes many depressed and discouraged. Especially during these hard times, many are so down and out. They have begun this journey of faith looking to Jesus, but now they have taken their eyes off Jesus, and have let circumstances overwhelm them. Irrespective of what the storms are if we call out to God, He is right there by our side, and will take us safely to shore.
Peter desired to do just like Jesus did. He even asked Jesus that he do what Jesus did. Peter was even able to do exactly that when he walked on water just like Jesus. Nonetheless, the problem arose when Peter took his eyes off Jesus. Peter could not follow through only because fear overtook his faith in Jesus. It was in those desperate moments that Peter called out to God and this is what happened.
We read in Matthew 14:31, Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (ESV)
When Peter called out to the Lord instantly, the Lord reached out to him, held on to his hand and brought him to safety.
As we progress on this journey of faith, we will encounter many strange and harsh storms. It is in those seasons that we should fix our eyes on Jesus, and not let the situations overwhelm us. When we cry out to the Lord, we can be sure that He will step in to save us and will deliver us without fail.
4. The cry of a blind man
We read in Luke 18:37-38, They told him, “Jesus, the one from Nazareth, is coming here.”
The blind man was excited and said, “Jesus, Son of David, please help me!”(ERV)
Here was a blind man, whose blindness made him a beggar dependent on others for his very livelihood. When he heard the Jesus was passing by, he called out to Jesus and said, “Jesus, Son of David, please help me!” The Greek word used for ‘cried out’ is ‘bo-ah'-o’ which means he yelled or shouted out to Jesus. This man had come to a place in his life where he felt he could no longer go on the way he was. He wanted a change wherein he could be on his own, and would not need to be at the mercy of others.
We read in Luke 18:40, Jesus stopped there and said, “Bring that man to me!” (ERV)
Jesus stopped to give heed to that man’s cry, and he had the man brought to him, and healed him of his blindness. This man joyfully received his sight and went gladly following Jesus. All of this began when he decided to by faith call out to Jesus. From that day on his blindness was gone, and he could lead a normal life like everyone else. He was no longer dependent on other men, but went joyfully by faith following after Jesus.
Some of you may be facing those times of desperation, unable to cope with the situations that seem unchanging or unending. There are families who are encountering problems over and over again, and it appears that there is no end in sight to these calamities. As children of God just call out to God, and be sure that He will bring speedy deliverance.
We have in this message looked at four incidents from the bible. The first one was Moses faced with the bitter waters of Mara. Moses called out to God, and got an answer in the form of a tree that changed the bitter water to sweet. So also, no matter what our bitterness is against others, if we are willing to forgive, God will help change all of those bitter relationships into pleasant ones.
Secondly, we looked at the Israelites who were helmed in on both sides with the Egyptian army behind and the Red Sea before them. In a miraculous way, God made a way for them by parting the sea and brought them to safety. The waters that protected God’s people proved to be a trap to the Egyptians who were all destroyed in those same waters.
Thirdly, we saw how Peter the disciple of Jesus who walked on the water, began to drown when he took his eyes off Jesus and got overwhelmed by the stormy sea. We too when challenged with the many storms in our lives, must not focus on the circumstances, but keep our eyes fixed on the Lord. If we do not do this, fear will overtake us and our faith will diminish and we will not be able to accomplish the great things that we aspire to do for the Lord.
Fourthly, we looked at the life of a blind man, who had no hope until Jesus passed by. The blind man called out to Jesus, and received his healing. Jesus also brought about a total transformation to the life of this man, who was hitherto at the mercy of others.
Just as Jonah cried out to the Lord, may we too call out to the Lord when faced with troubles. The word of God reminds us in Psalm 50:15, God says, "Call me when trouble comes. I will help you, and you will honor me." (ERV) No matter what our situation is we have a God who upholds us, cares for us, protects us, delivers us and leads us all the way. His ears are always attentive to our cry if we are willing to call out to him to help us.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
