READING: God who Listens
Jonah 2
“. . . you heard my voice.”
Jonah 2:2
I don’t understand how it happens, but I believe it does. Somehow, a God we cannot see hears us when we talk to Him. We speak— seemingly into the air— and the God who created the air listens to us.
What’s even more incredible to me is the fact that He’s willing to hear us even after we’ve sinned against Him. Even when we cry out to Him from the belly of a fish He sent to capture us in our fleeing rebellion.
I’m speaking, of course, about Jonah. He had willingly told the frightened sailors to throw him into the sea so the raging sea might calm, surely assuming that his death would be the likely result. It wasn’t, though, for “the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17). From there, Jonah did the logical thing: in his own words, he “called to the Lord” and “cried out for help” (Jonah 2:2). What’s not so logical, at least from a human perspective, is what Jonah concluded that God did in turn: “I called to the Lord in my distress,and he answered me. I cried out for help from deep inside Sheol; you heard my voice” (Jonah 2:2, emphasis added). Jonah had been running from God, but he was running from a God who can’t be outrun. God caught the prophet, and Jonah then turned to the God who listens.
I think today of how many, many, many times God has heard my cry for mercy and forgiveness after He has broken me over my sin. He has never let me go, and He’s always been willing to listen. For this reason and countless more, I want to be faithful and obedient to Him today.
ACTION STEPS:
- If you find yourself running from God today, stop running. You won’t outrun Him.
- Thank God for His willingness to listen to our prayers.
PRAYER: “Lord, You’re a gracious, merciful God. Thank You for chasing me down in my times of rebellion.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Amos 1-5