Second Chances and Fish-belly praying

In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears. Psalm 18:6 NASB

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly, “I cried out of my distress to the Lord, and He heard me.”  Jonah 2:1-2a AMPC

“And the Word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.” Jonah 3:1

Have you ever needed a second (or 3^rd or 4^th or 20^th) chance? I admit I have (a few times).

Come with me, let’s peek behind the curtain of Jonah’s second-chance story. Or should we say, this God-of-second-chances story. Second chances for the dirty-rotten, down right evil, folks of Nineveh. And second chances for this prophet of God, who wanted no part in warning Nineveh, who as far as he was concerned, deserved a divine smackdown.

God told Jonah to warn the Ninevites of His impending judgment. But Jonah didn’t think the Ninevites deserved a warning. So, although God said go east to Nineveh, Jonah boarded a ship heading west to the city of Tarshish. Not exactly prophet-of-the-year in the making. Once on the ship, God sent a life-threatening storm that eventually turned Jonah into fish food. Chapter two tells us, “Now the Lord prepared and appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah and he was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.” Jonah 1:17 AMPC. Don’t miss that fact that God prepared and appointed the fish. This was no man-over-board accident that randomly resulted in a big fish that just happened to be swimming by! Though Jonah rebelled, God faithfully arranged a unique time-out space for him to think through his choices.

I am astounded at this picture of God’s mercy and grace.

Has God ever prepared and appointed a “big fish” for you? A sort of divine time out that has allowed you time to think through life, or bad choices or simply sift through priorities? Maybe it’s a season of learning that God is faithful even in the darkness of the fish’s belly. I love how C.H. Spurgeon puts it, “Anything is a blessing which makes us pray.” Anything. My belly-of -the-fish moments have included everything from the death of two of my children to financial reversal.

Sometimes we are thrown over-board by our own sin and rebellion, other times, life throws us into the “depths of the sea” by virtue of simply being alive. And sometimes, other people’s choices throw us overboard. Regardless of how we arrive in our “fish-belly” state, I want us to see that God is present. Seaweed baggage and all. He is attentive to our cries for help and we can be assured that nothing happens to a child of God by happenstance.

After Jonah’s divine timeout, we read these words in chapter three; “And the Word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.”  God didn’t have to offer Jonah a second chance to do the right thing. But He did. And Jonah took it. This time the prophet of God did as directed and warned the folks of impending doom.  God offered the Ninevites a second chance, spoken of by a man who had just experienced one.

We may need a second chance to do the right thing or a second chance to handle a trial the right way or maybe our second chance has come in the form of a second season of life. Whatever the reason we are in need of a second chance, listen to His voice as He speaks to you … “The Word of the Lord came to (fill in your name) a second time.”

“It’s God’s mercy that provides the belly of the beast.”

Jeff Schreve

Father God, there are no words that could adequately express my thankfulness for Your gift of the fish’s belly that led to my second chance at life. I worship You in the beauty of Your holiness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus

Click here for info on my devo Stony Paths or for a FREE pdf of Stony Paths.