Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Today’s Scripture Reading 
Jonah 2:1–10

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; how shall I look again upon your holy temple?’ The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head at 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. As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord!”

Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land. (NRSV)

Reflection

Like some of you, I don’t live in Chicago. My home is in Provincetown, Massachusetts, located at the tip of Cape Cod. And like many coastal communities in New England, Provincetown is a fishing village with its fair share of whales. Humpbacks, finbacks, minkes, and North Atlantic right whales surround our waters all year long. Two summers ago, Michael Packard was collecting lobster traps from the ocean floor off the coast of Provincetown when everything went black. Yes, you guessed it: Michael was swallowed by a whale. He struggled to free himself when after a few minutes, the whale spewed Michael out upon the water and nearby fishermen rescued him.

Michael is our local Jonah, and while the two men share the terror of being swallowed by a whale, they are not the same. Michael was working — doing his daily job when the whale scooped him up. Jonah? He was running from the work that God had called him to do. He really, really did not want to follow God’s call and was attempting to flee God’s plan when the whale felt snackish.

Ultimately, there’s a bit of Jonah in all of us. When God puts a call on our lives, it can sometimes be so challenging and uncomfortable that it appears easier to run. And yet, God’s calls are not negotiable. No matter how hard we try to avoid them, God will keep nudging us back to the place and purpose to which God called us.

You do not need to answer God’s call right away. It’s OK to be nervous. The Bible is full of people who paused, questioned, argued, and offered alternatives back to God, but in every case, God would not quit. The same is true with us. God will call us to purposes that feel too big or too cumbersome and invites us to accept them, but as Jonah knows, God promises to be alongside us — to never leave us — as we faithfully respond to God’s commands.

Prayer

O God, I know that you have placed a call and claim on my life and invite me to joyfully and faithfully respond. Be patient with me, O God, as I hesitate and wonder, for I am human and will struggle. But you are perfect, O God, and the cause of my salvation. Amen.

Written by Shawn Fiedler, Major Gifts Officer

Reflection and prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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