1 [a]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. – Jonah 2:1-2
Jonah was still in the belly of the fish but he knew it was enough that the LORD had heard his cry (You listened my cry). In faith, Jonah knew that God simply hearing him was enough even before God’s answer came. Assurance and peace are found when we believe through faith that God hearing our cries is enough for us.
I already cringe at the sound of “dad. . . dad . . . dad!” I will be a father in December sometime. I am incredibly excited! But, of course, there are things that I am nervous about. One of those things is the constant calling on by children who need help with opening the fridge, preparing food, using the restroom, etc. I know as a child I screamed “Mom!” about two thousand too many times. There is something special about that scream though. My mother always answered. I knew as a child that if my mom can only hear me, I will be okay. This, I believe, is what Jonah felt in the belly of the fish.
“If only God hears me, I will be okay.” The faith Jonah exhibits is astonishing considering he ran away from God’s plan for him in the first place. Jonah clearly was falling on previous experiences with God. Jonah was probably scared when he first heard God. Was he a boy? Was he a young man? We do not know for sure, but I do know that it was probably frightening. Through the tribulations that came with being a prophet in the ancient near east Jonah developed a relationship dependent on so little. All he needed was to know God heard him.
Our story is much more simple than Jonah’s. WE HAVE DIRECT ACCESS TO GOD. JONAH DID NOT HAVE THIS. Jonah access to God was dependent on many factors. Our access to God is dependent on one factor. That factor is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus bridged the gap between our sin and God’s love. Without Christ’s sacrifice we would not have the Holy Spirit and we definitely would not have the supernatural connection to God that we do.
This means that through Jesus we can 1,000% be assured that God hears our cry. Not only this, we can be 1,000% sure that God answers our cry. After all, this is what Jesus was. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was the answer to humanity’s cry. So when you are stuck in the belly of the fish, be confident like Jonah knowing that God has heard your cry.
· In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple. (Psalm 18:6)
· For I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before Your eyes”; nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried out to You. (Psalm 31:22)