Overview
By Janice Hall
Scripture Lesson Text: Jonah 2: 1-10.
Chapter 2 depicts what Jonah prayed while still conscious inside the fish. He recounts his cry of distress in the water and lifts up a voice of thanks for deliverance. Jonah cried for help, and God saved him miraculously with a fish. Jonah refers to distress of the past, he means the time he spent in the water, not in the fish. The water was a threat of death, the fish was the refuge of salvation.
Jonah was not on his way to Nineveh when he fell overboard. He was running from God.
He was guilty of disobedience. God answers despite of judgement. God answers and delivers from impossible circumstances.
God answers on time. Jonah gives us courage to be unrelenting in prayer. God answers our cry of distress in order to win our undivided loyalty and thanksgiving. The answer to Jonah’s prayer filled him with wonder, that anyone would forsake the Lord and keep idols. God disciplines those He loves and yet God hears our prayers despite any situation.
Related Scriptures
By Brittenne Boykin
Related Scriptures: Daniel 12: 5-13; Joel 2: 1-17; Matthew 24:15-31; Luke 21:20-28
Chapter 2 depicts what Jonah prayed while still conscious inside the fish. He recounts his cry of distress in the water and lifts up a voice of thanks for deliverance. Jonah cried for help, and God saved him miraculously with a fish. Jonah refers to distress of the past, he means the time he spent in the water, not in the fish. The water was a threat of death, the fish was the refuge of salvation.
Jonah was not on his way to Nineveh when he fell overboard. He was running from God.
He was guilty of disobedience. God answers despite of judgement. God answers and delivers from impossible circumstances.
God answers on time. Jonah gives us courage to be unrelenting in prayer. God answers our cry of distress in order to win our undivided loyalty and thanksgiving. The answer to Jonah’s prayer filled him with wonder, that anyone would forsake the Lord and keep idols. God disciplines those He loves and yet God hears our prayers despite any situation.
Practical Points
By Janice Hall
1) When life is difficult, we should reach out to God, who always hears us.
The truth is when we are facing difficult circumstances, that we do not understand, one of the best things we can do is to trust God. We can trust that God is with us through every challenge we face and we are ultimately going to come out stronger in the end.
Putting our trust in God means there will be some unanswered questions. When we trust God, we have rest and comfort with not knowing everything, but believing He wants the best for us.( Proverbs 3: 5,6). When we really trust Him, and lean on Him, we enter His rest and it brings us His peace.
2) As you go through difficulties, remember that God has already prepared deliverance.
An overall thought is that we can do everything we can to prepare (and we should), but in the end, the Lord is the one who determines the outcome. We must prepare and give our best effort, but surrender the result to God. God will be the real power behind the result. The results are solely in God’s hands as He provides the real power, decides the outcome, and determines the end. We are held responsible only for the effort, not the result . (Philippians 4:6)
