Before Jonah finds himself inside a whale, we see a disconnected attitude in him. He doesn’t care that God told him to go to Nineveh… he’s sleeping while the storm threatens the lives of everyone on the ship and he seems emotionless when being thrown into the sea to his supposed death. Strangely enough, it takes three days in that dark, damp place of despair before he has an awakening and cries out in prayer to the LORD (I recommend starting sooner). I find this same pattern at times in our lives; detachment, denial, and despair that provoke the perception that we really need to call out to God for help.
Our perspective plays a big part in the directions we move forward. For example: if you were at a restaurant waiting to meet your date for dinner and after 45 minutes they were still a no show, you would have to come to some understanding and your perspective plays a big part on what that is. If you think (perceive) she stood you up, you might be angry. If you thought she was in an accident, you may be worried. If you thought she was working overtime to buy you a car, you might be grateful (naïve, but grateful) or maybe you wanted to break up with her and now you have a reason, and so you feel relieved. Your perception will ultimately affect your direction. It’s hard to imagine, but in Jonah’s case being vomited out of a whale was actually perceived that things were looking up.
When we finally do cry out to God, our prayer is usually for God to give us what we want, to make things the way we want them to be and to give us a life that is comfortable, secure and free from stress or worry (you can probably buy that book at the Christian bookstore). But in Jonah’s prayer while trapped in darkness, he remembers God has been with him and is aware of His presence still. Then even more illuminating and alarming, is the thought of being banished from God’s sight all together.
It Could be Worse
What if Jonah got what he wanted? What if he actually made his connecting flight in Tarshish and was able to run away from God? You see, without God the universe is a cold and heartless place. It doesn’t care about Nineveh, Haiti or children used in sex trafficking. Jonah became aware that a life without God is greater to be feared than the depths that he found himself in.
You would think that a prophet of God should already know this, but the truth is that sometimes it takes the despair of life for us to realize life’s value. It is in that dark place that we realize how much worse things would be if God was not there and those thoughts can keep us from sleep, or awaken us from it.
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