“When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.”
~ Jonah 2:7-10
REFLECT
Can you imagine being Jonah? God calls you to go and preach, and for one reason or another, you choose to run away. On top of that in the midst of running, you find yourself in a crazy storm and then are thrown overboard into the Mediterranean Sea. Lastly, a fish swallows you! How would you respond to this craziness? In chapter two, Jonah responds by turning back to God and acknowledging that God has saved him. Jonah’s life, according to verse seven, was going downhill, but in that time of stress and defeat, Jonah called out to God. What an amazing message that we need to hear today. Often times when things in life are falling apart, we turn to friends, drugs, relationships, music, or even social media. What if instead, we took a lesson from Jonah and turned to God in our hard times? Notice what Jonah says in verse eight: “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.” Don’t miss out on the love of God today. When things get hard, go to the one who can bring real peace and real comfort! Turn to God in prayer, dive into Scripture, and connect with Him in worship when things get difficult.
PRAYER
Dear God, I pray today that no matter what my circumstance, I would stay close to you. God, I know it’s so easy for me to turn to other things instead of turning to you. Please remind me that the things on this earth are nothing in comparison to how great you are! I love you Lord, and in Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.