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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
We are reading in Jonah Chapter 2. Now, Jonah is praying to the Lord His God. If you have run away, and if you have fled, that does not stop you praying.
When aboard that ship sailing to Tarshish, Jonah did not pray, but now in the belly of that great fish, Jonah is praying.
He prays phrases from the Psalms. Jonah knew his Bible. Jonah had stored up God’s Word in his heart. The old Word of God kept coming to His mind.
It was the Word of God that reassured Him that he was in God’s hands.
We have the language and prayer of a drowning man.
Jonah is floundering in the deep – he did not know what was happening – and he calls upon God as a last resort.
God accepts His prophet, when he calls upon Him.
There is no pride with God.
It takes a lot to get some people praying!
Jonah has to be brought down to the depths in order to get him to stop fighting God, but to begin all over again to listen to God.
It was from the grave of God’s dark and stern discipline, that Jonah cried.
God had to knock down Paul from his high horse to get his attention and get him to listen.
When we disobey it is not God’s purposes that suffer, but our wellbeing, and God was willing to save him from the consequences of his disobedience.
It is the picture of a believer who wanders away – or runs away – from the place of blessing and power and peace.
We have to die to self.
That is the meaning and significance and relevance of the cross of Jesus Christ.
This was a cry from the heart – so making everything in the prayer most meaningful.
Verse 2 – He is in distress – he is suffering affliction. He is in Sheol – Hades – that pit.
Running away from God is never worth it.
Sheol is pictured in Scripture as being beneath the ground – a place of darkness and a place of silence, and although it implies separation from God, it is accessible to God.
In one sense, you cannot teach people the serious consequences of running away from God, because some have to discover it themselves, and some never do.
Jonah is virtually dying. Jonah comes face to face with the truth.
Proud self has to be dethroned.
The issue is not salvation – but service – and to be disqualified from service in the Kingdom of God is a great loss.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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