Out of your dark and dank place
You may know (or you may be one) who has caught a big fish, but chances are you don’t personally know anyone who has spent any time in the belly of a big fish.
This being said, you do know someone (or you may be one) who has spent time in a dark and dank place that, if you think about it, is similar to being in the belly of a big fish.
In this place of drudgery, it’s unlikely God’s praises are being sung. If God is thought of, or I hope as God is thought of, it’s most often in the cry of a lament.
In the story of Jonah, the guy who actually spent time in the smelly belly of a big fish, there is a different response. Instead of lamenting, he may have laughed—or at least smiled—when praising God in his circumstances.
Like this guy who is, in fact, fish food, we can celebrate God in our lives—even when our lives are dark and dank.
I invite you to be as inspired as I am in the poetry found in the second chapter of Jonah. The following are select verses that capture Jonah being, well, captured.
“I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves… Seaweed wrapped itself around my head. As my life was slipping away, I remembered [you] LORD. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies. But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone.”
A key phase gets all of us off the hook here. Jonah says, “Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies.”
Did Jonah worship a false god or two? Yes. He’s not calling out others here as much as he’s rightly naming himself, and, in turn, all of us who listen to God only when God sends messages that make us comfortable.
Mentioning God’s mercies given the predicament Jonah finds himself in speaks to what we can do when we find ourselves caught, or in a less than ideal place. We can find the good.
Finding the good when we are in a dark and dank place can be a challenge. However, we need to remember that Jonah doesn’t know at this point in his life the future of his life. No where is it mentioned that Jonah will be a sort of house guest within this living submarine of sorts. Jonah doesn’t know how long he’s actually going to be in the fish, or if he will be digested by the fish.
Also, Jonah likely wasn’t wearing a waterproof watch. Add to this that there is no discernable night and day in a fish. Three hours could feel like three days. But Jonah does the two great things we can do. First, he sings songs of praise to God because he knows his salvation comes from God alone. Second, he vows to fulfill all his vows.
When it comes to his vows, Jonah isn’t deal making here. This isn’t a “If I… then you’ll…” contract he is making with God. Instead, he is earnest, sincere, grateful, and appreciative of who God is and what God has done.
To get out of our dark and dank places we can do the same. In the “woe is me” song we sometimes sing, too often we focus too much on the ‘me.’ I’m not suggesting we brush past our issues or our problems, but they have a place. In that fish, Jonah likely couldn’t see five feet in front of him, but he could see far beyond himself. He named our God who would deliver his salvation.
The Book of Jonah is found in the Old Testament. Jonah didn’t know the liberating, life-affirming New Testament Jesus like we can, yet still he speaks of and celebrates our God who doesn’t leave us in dire or dreary places. Our God holds our salvation, our future home and our forever bliss. Jesus’ home in a dark and dank tomb for three days—which in that time he actually descended into hell—wasn’t just for someone else, it was for all of us who call to him and know him.
When we see past our false gods and fulfill our vows, we realize what Jonah realizes once he is spit out of the big fish after three days: Our salvation does come from the LORD alone.
Singing songs of praise because of this is not just obvious, it’s also good—so very, very good.
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