Fish gotta swim - We gotta Pray

Picture by Caprice Miller

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish.” – Jonah 2:1

I wonder what was going through Jonah’s mind while he was stuck inside the fish that swallowed him.  I also wonder at what point he decided it would be a good time to pray about the situation he found himself in.  I would like to say that I am so “spiritually mature” that prayer would have been my immediate response.  But then I get realistic and have to admit that prayer would not be my first response.  My immediate circumstance and surroundings would probably cause an all-out fear response.  Think about it – I’ve just been SWALLOWED by a gigantic FISH.  The laws of nature say this situation is supposed to be reversed.  I’m not meant to be the meal – the fish is!   In that moment I would do everything in my own power to get myself out of the slimy, smelly, dark space before I’m digested.  And therein lies the problem, it seems…. “my own power”. 

We have all been in those situations when we may feel like we are stuck in the belly of a fish.  Desperation sets in and we do everything in our own power to get ourselves out of the situation.  But the more we struggle, the worse it gets.  It’s only when we can’t fight any longer that we do what we should have in the beginning and cry out to God.  We finally get to the point of desperation we feel is the “last resort” instead of our first response and we ask God to use His power.  What would happen if we decided to pray first?   What if we stopped to ask if there is something He wants to teach us in the midst of this?

In Jonah’s case we’re told what happened after Jonah learned some things God wanted to teach him and he finishes his prayer.  In the very next verse it says - “Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.” – Jonah 2:10.  Jonah found rest on a beach!  For some of us, that is the perfect scenario – just spit me out on a beach and get me out of this, please. When we actually become still enough to pray in the midst of the circumstance, we find His peace.  We may have been so fearful and stressed out that we could not see the way out He wanted to give us at the time.  But when we let Him step in and take over He gives us a way out.  Remember, when we are at our most desperate His glory can shine the brightest in our lives.   You may be stuck in the belly of a fish right now.  Stop struggling and truly cry out to God believing He already has a way out for you.  He’s got a beach – a resting place - just for you.