A New Beginning...

'You will never truly realise God is all you need until He becomes all you have.'

Jonah 1:17 - Jonah 2

'When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.' Jonah 2:7

All seemed lost for Jonah...

He was sinking deeper and deeper into the depths of the sea...

But as his life was fading away, Jonah finally cried out to God, for He had never ceased to be his God.

Jonah's prayer rose to God's holy temple, and He heard his cry.

But well before this happened, the all-knowing, sovereign God initiated Jonah's salvation.

The reconciliation between God and Jonah began on God's side.

God had already prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah.

The word in Greek does not imply that God had specially created a large fish for this occasion, but rather that God appointed a great fish to save Jonah from drowning.

While there are big fish that can swallow a man alive, the preservation of Jonah's life for three days and three nights was supernatural.

A child in their mother's womb cannot breathe yet, but lives by the design and will of God.

The same will of God miraculously preserved Jonah's life inside the belly of the fish.

And the same will of God gives us breath and sustains our life.

'The Spirit of God had made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:4

Saved from drowning, in the belly of the fish, in those days and nights of darkness, Jonah had a change of heart.

Jonah had fled from the presence of God, but he desired to look again toward God's holy temple (Jonah 2:4a).

For the Jews, the temple was the place where the presence of God dwelt.

The temple was the place where, through the sacrifice of a spotless, innocent lamb, sin could be atoned for.

Jonah desired his relationship with God restored; he longed to be in the presence of God again.

His prayer, recorded in Jonah, chapter 2, is often called a Psalm of Thanksgiving.

Jonah describes the great distress and danger he was in and the despair that had set in.

He was in the depths of the sea as a result of his disobedience, but even though the sailors threw him in, Jonah recognised it was God who cast him there. Jonah 2:3

In his darkest moments, Jonah draws comfort and strength from the Word of God.

Jonah's prayer has many allusions and quotations from the Psalms.

Encouraged by God saving him from drowning, he has assurance and peace that his life would be saved, and although still in the belly of the fish, Jonah praises and trusts in God for his deliverance before this has even happened.

Jonah warns those who put their trust in worthless gods and turn away from God's love for them.

Such gods cannot save or deliver in times of need.

But Jonah has certainty and peace that his God is able to save him, and that he will praise and serve him again.

And the God who is able and willing to save, did save Jonah.

God gave Jonah a new beginning...

Nature and all creatures submit to God's will; it is only man who rebels against it.

God is a God of new beginnings, but there cannot be a new beginning until there is repentance and complete surrender to his will.

When our sins hide God's face from us, do we desire to be in God's presence again?

We no longer need a temple to worship, because we can now worship in Spirit and truth. John 4:23-24

We no longer need the sacrifice of a spotless lamb to be forgiven.

We can now receive forgiveness wherever we are, through faith in Jesus' sacrifice. John 1:29

When we pray with humility and sincerity, we are welcome to God's throne of grace, just as Jonah was.

We can cry out to God wherever we are, regardless of how hopeless our situation is.

And before we even see our prayers answered, through faith, we can also receive peace and assurance that our pleas before God are heard and will be answered in God's timing.

Jonah cried out to God in his distress, and God was merciful to him.

Jonah was under God's judgment, because of his disobedience - 'You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas.' Jonah 2:3a

Jonah was in the depths of the sea, facing inevitable death - 'To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever.' Jonah 2:6a

But even when things looked hopeless, God turned hopelessness into hope and despair into praise.

God made the impossible possible.

Have you lost hope for a new beginning?

Is your situation hopeless?

Is your heart full of despair?

God is willing and able to give you a new beginning.

It is never too late to cry out to God.

God can turn your hopelessness into hope and your despair into praise.

'What is impossible with man is possible with God.' Luke 18:27

Other studies in Jonah:

Jonah 1 - A Journey, A Storm & A Cry for Help

https://www.biblereflections.online/post/a-journey-a-storm-a-cry-for-help