Mercy from the belly of a fish

I met a man a few months ago, who complained bitterly about how God was dealing with him. He talked about how everything had gone terribly wrong and how simple things had become so difficult. He said he even started a church at some point but it failed. He then made a statement which I found shocking! He said he would stop praying or having any form of communication with God because God had been unfair to him.

I was reading the story of Jonah and that young man came back to my mind.

Jonah Chapter 1 & 2

God had sent Jonah to Nineveh, to cry against it; for their wickedness had come up before him but Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, so he went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
This angered the Lord so he sent a great storm and Jonah was thrown into the sea, where he was swallowed by a fish. God was dealing with Jonah because of his rebellion or disobedience but Jonah did not see the situation as a hopeless one, he never gave up on God, he prayed unto the Lord out of the fish's belly, and said…

 ³For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

 ⁴Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

 ⁵The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

 ⁷When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

 ⁹But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

 ¹⁰And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

I would lay emphasis on verse 4 and 9. Verse 4 says “Yet, I will look again toward thy holy temple” and verse 9 says “Salvation is of the Lord’s”. The truth is, when God is dealing with you, the only one that can save you is God himself. Don’t go running around where there is no help, and giving up should not be an option.

Say to yourself, just like Jonah did… I will yet look again, towards God’s holy temple, and if indeed, you believe that salvation is of the Lord’s, you can ask him for mercy. The bible says that God is merciful.

He will deliver you, safely ashore.