Many people can identify with the phrase “rock bottom.” Throughout your life there has most likely been a time when you felt like you were at your lowest, broken, discouraged, defeated, or on the brink of giving up. For me, this was at the end of my first year in college. I will spare you the details, but needless to say, I had hit rock bottom and was in need of something new.
1. When was a time in your life when you hit rock bottom?
2. What were some of the thoughts going through your head?
3. Did things change? What led to that change?
Jonah chapter 2 starts off by saying, “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish.” This was Jonah's rock bottom moment. He ran from God’s command, found himself on a boat in the middle of a storm, was cast overboard into the ocean, and is now in the belly of a fish. I will be honest, my rock bottom moment simply does not compare to his. That is a tough place to be in physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Jonah wrestles with his disobedience, reflects on his failure, recognizes the physical danger he is in, all while knowing He chose to run from God Almighty. In this moment, he does the only thing he really can do: reflect and pray.
4. What would be going through your head if you were in this situation?
5. Take a moment to imagine what it might look like for Jonah to be in the belly of a fish. Do you think it was comfortable and spacious? Could he see? What could he do to keep himself busy for three days and three nights?
Jonah 2:2-5 says, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your breakers and your waves passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head.”
In this passage, we begin to see the distress that Jonah was in. In his prayer he begins to cry out to the Lord the depth of his emotional and spiritual state. On the brink of death, he lays bare his plight before the Lord. All too often, we go through life dealing with difficult things, struggling and in distress, carrying emotional and spiritual burdens, and we do not take time to lay them before the Lord in prayer. In many instances, Jonah is not a character who sets an example that we want to follow, but in this case he is. When we find ourselves in times of deep distress and brokenness, those are the times when we need to take that brokenness to the Lord in prayer.
6. When was the last time you took a moment to self-reflect?
7. How often do you turn to prayer in times of defeat or discouragement? Is it difficult for you to do? Why or why not?
8. How do you feel after you spend time in prayer? Why do you think you feel that way?
In Jonah 2:6, he moves from self-reflection to focusing on the redemption that the Lord offers. “To the roots of the mountains I went down, to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.”
Many times we acknowledge with our words that the Lord is the only true source of redemption, but when times of hardship come our way, we run to other sources to find fixes to our problems. Money, self-help books or podcasts, distractions, or addictions seem to be what we run to in when things seem to get out of our control. The truth is, things are not in our control to begin with. For Jonah, it took being in the belly of a fish for this to really sink in. He recognized Who was in control and Who really brought salvation, redemption, and restoration.
9. When you have a problem, what is the first place you look for a solution?
10. Why is it easier to run to the solution the world offers than to God?
11. Control is often a difficult topic of discussion. How do we begin to hand over control to God rather than struggle to keep it ourselves?
We have highs and lows, successes and failures, valleys and mountain tops. These different stages of life are unavoidable, so we, as God’s people, have to understand how to turn to Him in all seasons. The Lord is our salvation and restoration; He alone is Who we need at rock bottom. In this instance, follow Jonah’s example and cry out to the Lord in prayer.