Dogs, Cats & Whales

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Jonah 2:1
I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and He answered me (v.2).

Frank’s dog tormented cats. So when Thor broke free
one day and ran off, Frank got a bad feeling. Sure
enough, the dog snatched a poor, unsuspecting cat
in its jaws. But then, out of the shadows, came a furious
streak of gray—another cat! Launching itself onto Thor’s
back, it viciously raked the dog’s eyes and nose. The
hapless hound promptly freed his victim, but the attack
continued.

“Frank, do something!” exclaimed his shocked wife.
“Oh no,” he replied. “He’s had this coming for a long
time.” At last the dog slumped to the ground in surrender.
The triumphant cat strolled off defiantly, leaving the
chastened canine in its wake. “My dog had seen the
error of his ways,” Frank laughs. He reports that his
mangled mutt has never again attacked a cat.
Had Thor not been humbled, he would have continued
to be cruel to cats. Jonah could relate. No, he wasn’t
cruel to animals. But he had to hit the very bottom—
literally—before he surrendered to God.

You know the story. Jonah had been thrown
overboard and was now residing inside a large fish.
That’s the moment he got real with God. “I sank down
to the very roots of the mountains,” Jonah said. “But
you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of
death! As my life was slipping away, I remembered the
Lord” (Jonah 2:6-7).

It took a literal watery grave to get Jonah to turn to God in complete honesty.
“My earnest prayer went out to you,” said Jonah (v.7). The result was Jonah’s
rescue and release (v.10).

So often, we seem to change only when we have no other options. But that’s
precisely where God meets us! Our dead-end situations are opportunities to
turn in raw, desperate honesty to Him.

—Tim Gustafson

more›
Read Psalms 28:1, King David’s desperate but hopeful song to the God who rescued him.

next›
Jonah 2:8 speaks about false gods. Are there any false gods you might be
worshiping? What are you clinging to that is keeping you from being
completely honest with God?