Jonah 2:1 “Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,”
You can mock and scoff and laugh all you want, but you will no longer laugh after you have spent time in your own “great fish” (Jonah 1:17). One of the main messages of the Word of God to His Elect, Born Again Children is, “If ye refuse” to obey the “word of God” and “rebel” against the Lord “ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 1:20)! David ignored this warning, and beginning with the death of his young son, “the sword” of trouble “never” departed from his “house” (II Samuel 12:10). It is true that the devil and his venomous minions are constantly walking “about, seeking whom” they “may devour” (I Peter 5:8) and they cause a lot of trouble and suffering for the Children of God. But, these adversaries cannot bring us as low as the chastening hand of God can. As in Jonah’s and David’s case, God deals with rebellious individuals in perfectly effectual ways that yields humility, confession, and repentance every time. As in Isaiah Chapter One, God deals with an entire nation of rebellious people in ways that humbles the whole nation. The bottom line is, God is going to win every time! No matter how mighty a person or a people are, God knows exactly what kind of “great fish” is needed to get our attention. Parents sometimes have rebellious children that they simply cannot bring under control, but God has no Child that He cannot control! He is gracious and longsuffering, but eventually rebellion will come face to face with its “great fish”! “Then Jonah prayed”!