August 12th – Daily Study – Jonah 2:1-2
August 12, 2020
August 14th – Daily Study – Jonah 2:8-9
August 14, 2020
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,[b]
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. – Jonah 2:3-7
Jonah realized that it wasn’t the sailors who cast him into the sea – it was God Himself. Jonah saw that he had never been out of God’s hands, though he tried to run from Him. You are never too far from the hand of God. In your mistakes and poor decisions, God is still a prayer away.
Jonah learned that the greatest pain he faced was not the deep of the ocean or seaweeds wrapped around his head. Jonah’s greatest pain was that he had been cast out of God’s sight. “I have been banished from Your sight.” Of all the calamities Jonah listed, this was first. Jonah’s greatest pain was his separation from God. Still he was determined – even in the belly of a fish – to turn his heart towards God and His temple. Simply, Jonah remembered the LORD.
Do you remember God? Let’s think of the new experiences we have encountered since March first. State lock down, mask mandate, school cancelled, church cancelled, inability to see your family, most unemployed since great depression, mass mental health crises, economic recession, and the list goes on and on. Through all of this, have you remembered God? Or, has the seaweeds and the deep of the sea overtaken your hope in Christ Jesus?
Jonah was running as far away as his mind could possibly envision. Yet, God was there when Jonah remembered Him. I am sure many of us have forgotten God over the last several months. I don’t blame you. Even I have forgotten his promises. Let your heart feel the distance between you and God. Remember the grace given to you by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
