Rescued for His Purpose
“If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3, NKJV).
Many Christians struggle as David did. When the holy, righteous fear of God is implanted in their souls, his terrible majesty constantly looms before them. Like David, they cry out, “Lord, who can stand before you? Who can endure your holiness?”
Jonah asked the very same question. He was on the ocean floor, unable to escape his dilemma, when he cried out, “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all your billows and your waves passed over me” (Jonah 2:3).
Who cast Jonah down into those depths of darkness? It was God! The heavenly Father took the prophet down to the very bottom and prepared the whale to swallow him. God was not mad at Jonah, so why did he allow this to happen to him? Because he wanted to stop his servant from running away from his will. He wanted Jonah to follow his plan so that he would be blessed. In short, God took Jonah down to the depths to restore him.
Jonah 2:2 tells us exactly what God was after: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and he answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.” The Lord was waiting for Jonah to turn to him, to cry out to him alone. Then Jonah prayed, “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord…” (Jonah 2:7).
Today, the Lord does the same with us. He allows us to sink in despair over our sin until we have no other source to turn to but him. Finally, out of the belly of our hell, we cry, “Oh, Lord, please hear me! I have no hope. You must deliver me!”
Perhaps you have hit rock bottom over your sin. You can’t seem to get victory over that one besetting sin, and the Lord has allowed you to go down to the depths. Yet it is all for a purpose. He is hoping that, like Jonah, you will “turn to him.”
Beloved, rest assured, for when Jonah cried out to the Lord, God delivered him quickly: “So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land” (Jonah 2:10).