I’m preaching about Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2 of the prophecy of Jonah. I noticed a few things.
Jonah’s Prayer is Utterly Scriptural
Jonah’s prayer is scriptural. The words Jonah prayed to God are found in Psalm 42:7 and several places in Psalm 18. His language shows a depth of knowledge of scripture that we should all aspire to!
God Gets His Man
You may recall that Jonah’s whole purpose in fleeing toward Tarshish was to escape the presence of Yahweh. Yet in Jonah 2:4 he laments that he feels separated from God. Rest assured, our Heavenly Father will lovingly chasten His children and bring them back to fellowship with Himself.
Jonah Is Not Only a Type of Christ, But An Example To Us All
Jonah’s descent and response are a type of the church too. What I mean is Jonah’s response ought to be our response.
Rather than the storms of difficulty and trials being seen as evidence of God’s judgment and abandonment, authentic faith grabs ahold of these things as evidences of both his love and his promises of ultimate deliverance.
Trials are designed by God to draw His children closer while driving the wicked away.
Suffering is like an amplifying steroid that softens a soft heart and further hardens a hard heart.
When you squeeze fruit you get the juice that’s inside of it. When God squeezes a person through trials, what comes out of their mouth and their behavior is what is inside them. Trials test our faith but, unlike the wicked who are like chaff that wind drives away, our faith is tried in a purifying way. Suffering removes from us the dross and impurity that clings so closely. Tribulations, toils, dangers, and snares show us how we are still dependent upon worldly comfort for our contentment, how we trust in our own strength for our sanctification, and how created things continue to be the source of our joy.
God is the only one who can truly give us comfort, joy, and spiritual strength. So praise Him and thank him that He won’t let us endure long without truly knowing this ourselves experientially and seek Him while He still may be found. The temple veil has been rent and we have access through the spotless blood of the lamb.
Amen.
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