Jonah 2:2

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 2:2

From the belly of a fish, Jonah gives thanks to God for listening to him, and rescuing him. It seems out of place in many ways. Jonah had thrown himself overboard from the great ship on which he had tried to hide himself from God, expecting to die in the waves of the sea. Instead, he finds himself in the belly of a fish, and one would think his mind would be enveloped by the new death surrounding him, waiting to die. Yet, what looked like death actually became safe-keeping. The prophet, now in this huge animal, was now willing to be carried about as God directed. A big turn of events had changed his attitude about God’s will for him. And in this he gave thanks. God was dealing with him, and that was enough. From “deep in the realm of the dead” he cried out to God. David in psalm 18:5 wrote: “The bands of death compassed me round about.” It was the darkest place each man knew. It was from this deep place they cried out to a God who hears the heart, though their voice was chocked by the waters of distress. It makes one wonder what kind of sound the heart makes. What does God listen for…is it what we hear through the stethoscope? No, that would not speak to God. That is the tick-tock of life, but not of spirit. Perhaps it is not even a sound that we would recognize, but that God does. Perhaps it is the sincerity, the intensity, the purity of the prayer that God tunes His ear toward. Perhaps it is that Jonah, and you, own the pain and depth of the grief, perhaps that is why a prayer reaches the realm of God’s hearing.