Delve: The Deadliest Catch

Dark, smelly, isolated, wet, cold and…alone. Pair that with stubborn, mad, frustrated and desperate and you have the perfect combination for a “pity” party!

Jonah 1: 17 “But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.”

For three days Jonah sloshed around in the belly of that fish!  We imagine for the first few hours he is trying to snatch anything that happens to float by;   searching desperately for something to help him get the fish to spew him back out into the sea.  A couple of hours go by and nothing works. No amount of yelling, kicking, jabbing or crying out removes him from his pit. His strength starts to subside, his throat raw from screaming and he sinks into himself and the party of one that has been created just for him.  It’s a very deadly place.

Many of us have been here before.  A lost job, a scary medical diagnosis, an ended relationship or a situation beyond our control throws us into a pit as dark and lonely as Jonah’s. Anger, denial, stubbornness and  frustration  become a catalyst that begs us to turn inward. Pretty soon we find ourselves isolated in our own personal pit. And then we wallow in it like a pig that gets great pleasure from the slop he lives in.  We have the biggest pity party with hurt and pain as our welcomed guests.

Jonah 2:1-2 “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.”

The conversation goes a little like this…Lord?  Lord!  It’s me, Jonah, your servant.   Listen Lord, I don’t know if I can do this anymore. I have tried everything I can think of to get out of here. I am tired, hungry and scared. I am dying here, please Lord, rescue me! I will do anything you want me to…

And then God offers grace… Jonah, my son, I have been waiting and listening for your cry!

What do you think was the turning point for Jonah?

What finally made him cry out, not in self pity, but in hope?

What does it take to turn our pit experiences into a song of thanksgiving?

Delve deeper: What can you do to get out of your “pit”?

1)    Pray! Our creator and deliverer longs to hear from you.
2)    Yield and surrender those things that separate you from the Lord.
3)    Accept His grace. His desire is to deliver you from your “pit” and restore a right relationship with Him.

Read Psalm 86:1-4