Streams of Comfort

In Jonah 2, Jonah describes the feeling of drowning and hopelessness he felt when he was thrown from the ship headed to Tarshish. In verse 5 he says to the Lord, “The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head.” And as his life ebbed away God showed him mercy and saved him. By having him be swallowed by a fish. And Jonah remembered the Lord, and proclaimed from within the belly of the fish that salvation comes from him. And it was in that place, that he was completely aware of his desperation and need for God. That leads to verse 10 where, “God spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” This poem is inspired from that moment of desperation and God’s salvation.

We were searching for better things.
But the taste of what we found,
Was the sort of bitterness,
That catches in your throat,
Holds back your breath,
And pours out tears from your eyes.
Red cheeks stinging from the blow,
That reality struck,
When we realized,
That the fruit we desired was sour grapes.
What can we do?
Our paths are crooked and tangled emotions,
And we hang on by a loose thread,
That can be cut at any moment.
But,
It is in this place,
Where we lost sight of the better way,
That our desperation reaches its peak,
An infinite love touches our hearts,
And an abundant grace lifts our weary heads,
And God works a miracle.
Sour grapes become sweet.