Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

Experiencing Painful Sovereignty

JONAH 2 – Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.”

The minor prophet book of Jonah is far more than a fish story. Yes, it is a fish story, but a true fish story, not like some fish stories that are more tales than facts. But Jonah is not to reside in a nice flannel graph in a Sunday school room or keep in the shallow waters of our mind as a Sunday school lesson. The book of Jonah is rich in theology, practical in Christian living, and life-altering in its application in properly responding to God’s painful sovereignty. And before we look at Jonah for us as Christians, we need to establish or at least be reminded that all spiritual growth, in some fashion, will be painful. It will hurt. It must because our sinful flesh is not cooperative in the process of maturing as a Christian. It wants nothing to do with self-denial, self-discipline, and being put to death in our lives. As such, enter God’s painful work of sovereignty doing a number on our flesh. For Jonah? It was extreme – the belly of a big fish. He would learn things about God, Himself, and living for Him not in the comfortable sanctuary of a church or the cozy confines of his home. No, the life-altering lessons Jonah learned occurred while wrapped in disgusting seaweed and swimming in the digestive juices of a big fish’s stomach. And what did he learn in God’s painful school of His sovereignty? Two things, and two things we must learn as well in whatever “room” God places us in His painful school of His sovereignty.

First, Jonah would learn true prayer experiencing God’s painful sovereignty. Today’s scripture opens with what Jonah did in the belly of the fish–he prayed. And that earnestly. Go back and read his prayer paying close attention to the intensity, fervency, and sincerity. This wasn’t a mechanical, “Thank you for this food, Lord” or “Now I lay me down to sleep” type of praying. This was real. This was painful. And this changed Jonah’s prayer life. If we respond correctly when experiencing God’s painful sovereignty, we will learn to pray, really pray.

Another lesson from Jonah for us is found toward the end of chapter two. What is Jonah doing? Worshipping. Yes, he is worshipping-But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord! Evaluate our lives right now. When suffering comes, affliction arrives, and difficulty knocks at the door of our lives, how do we respond? Worship which is a focus away from ourselves or complaining which is a focus on ourselves? The chief end of man is to glorify God by worshipping Him and sometimes it takes the experience of God’s painful sovereignty to teach us this eternal truth.

So, take time soon and read the great fish story in the Bible, the book of Jonah, but ask the Lord to show us it is far more than a fish story.

PRAYER: “Father, forgive me when I complain in the working of Your sovereignty instead of praising.”
QUOTE: “The process of spiritual growth involves pain. It must. Our flesh will not be subdued without it.”

Because of Him,
Pastor Jim