Streams of Comfort

This month we are studying Jonah chapter 2. Jonah is an interesting character because he is placed in a very hopeless situation. I don’t know about you, but being swallowed by a whale or large fish sounds like a nightmare. However, God allowed it because He was teaching Jonah a lesson on obedience and He needed to save him from being stuck in the ocean. Jonah, out of fear, refused to go to where God wanted him to, Nineveh, and instead decided to go his own way. As a result, a great storm threatened His boat, so Jonah asked the crew to throw him off the boat since he knew that this storm was due to his disobedience. And then comes the whale. While in the whale, Jonah sends a prayer to God. That even from his lowest point, “the engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me” (Jonah 2:5), God still rescued him. “But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit”(Jonah 2:6).

This month as we write poetry inspired from Jonah’s story, let us remember that God loves us. Even when we disobey or disappoint Him. Salvation comes from the Lord and His hand is always upon us.

Jonah 2 (NIV)

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. ² He said:

“In my distress I called to the Lord,
    and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
    and you listened to my cry.
³ You hurled me into the depths,
    into the very heart of the seas,
    and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
    swept over me.
⁴ I said, ‘I have been banished
    from your sight;
yet I will look again
    toward your holy temple.’
⁵ The engulfing waters threatened me,
    the deep surrounded me;
    seaweed was wrapped around my head.
⁶ To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
    the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
    brought my life up from the pit.

⁷ “When my life was ebbing away,
    I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.

⁸ “Those who cling to worthless idols
    turn away from God’s love for them.
⁹ 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.’”

¹⁰ And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.