To the Ends of the Earth: Action – Week 10, Day 4 – In God Our Second Chance Can Be Our Number-One Accomplishment

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.

For you cast me into the deep,

   into the heart of the seas,

   and the flood was round about me;

all your waves and your billows

   passed over me.

The waters closed in over me,

   the deep was round about me;

weeds were wrapped about my head

   at the roots of the mountains.

I went down to the land

   whose bars closed upon me for ever;

yet you brought up my life from the Pit,

   O LORD my God.

Jonah 2:2–6

Perhaps the most remarkable part of Jonah’s prayer is that he prayed it from inside the belly of the fish. Even though he didn’t know what would happen to him, Jonah trusted that God would redeem him from his great sin. He remembered that God rescues his servants and sets their feet on a new path. From the watery grave of a fish’s belly, Jonah was reborn to a new life of preaching to the lost people of Nineveh.

Jonah points us to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Jesus even compared Jonah’s three days in the belly of the great fish to the three days he would spend in the heart of the earth (cf. Mt 12:40). Jesus endured the darkness of the grave in order to be raised up on the third day to bring the word of salvation to all the lost. These verses tell us that God is in the business of giving his children second (and third and fourth) chances. His grace allows us to make our second chances a new and glorious beginning, where our sins are forgotten and we learn to put the kingdom first. When Jesus gives us new life, we go forth to share the Gospel with all who are in need of salvation.

Questions for Reflection

Where has God given you a second chance in life? How are you using that second chance for his glory?

Why is it easier to see your need for God when you are in the lowest place?

Praying with Scripture

I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up, and have not let my foes rejoice over me. (Ps 30:1)

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