Before You Quit
Before You Quit
Now the Lord had appointed a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the fish three days and three nights. (Jon. 1:17)
The Predicament
Have you ever thought, It can’t get any worse than this—and then it does? Just when you’ve given your last ounce of strength to stay afloat in the midst of insurmountable problems, you’re swallowed by a giant catastrophe.
Such was Jonah. Having disobeyed God by sailing away from responsibility, a storm was unleashed because of his rebellion. He was thrown overboard by the ship’s sailors, abandoned in the sea, thinking death was imminent. It can’t get any worse than this, he thought. But it did.
The Reality
Consequently Jonah went down. Down to Tarshish, down into the bottom of a ship, down into the water, and now he was down inside the fish. Jonah had hit bottom. The sea was a place of great fear, a place of chaos and death. Jonah thought he was down and done for, but God was up to something.
When human beings are going down, God is often up to something great. From God’s perspective, big fish (like the poor economy, job loss, and illness) are not a problem at all. Even stiff-necked, rebellious, stubborn humans are not a problem. God laughs at insurmountable problems. He is working even when we don’t realize it. This is good news. He is far more faithful than we imagine.
Bottom Line
Jonah’s story reminds us that God meets us at our lowest place. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, God is up to something great. So don’t quit.