Three days of complete darkness, filth, dreariness, and solitude. Three nights of seclusion, desperation, and unknowns. Inside of an enormous fish’s stomach, Jonah felt all of these things and more. And we think our situations are bad. Sometimes we go through things in our lives that are terrible. Absolutely terrifying. We beg God to get us out of it and it just doesn’t seem like He’s there or He’s listening. It seems as if He is silent. Our God is never silent. There are a million heroes in the Bible, yet God put it on my heart to share with you about Jonah. As I was brainstorming, trying to think of which direction I wanted this article to go, I prayed and asked God what He had planned, He then put Jonah on my heart. Why, you ask? I’m not really sure myself, to be honest, but I’m hoping and praying that the relevancy of Jonah can speak to you today.

Before I begin this article, here is a brief overview of Jonah’s life. Once upon a time, God called this guy, Jonah, to be a missionary to the people of Nineveh, but Jonah was scared because the people of Nineveh were wicked, so he disobeyed God and went to Tarshish instead. While he was on the runaway ship to Tarshish, there was a terrible storm. The Bible says that there was fear on the faces of the men on this ship. The crew woke up Jonah, because like all of us, Jonah was napping (did I mention relevancy?). The crew cast lots, and eventually came to the conclusion that God created this storm because of Jonah’s sin. They threw him overboard and as soon as they did, the storm ceased. Jonah got swallowed by a big fish; sometimes compared to as a whale. Jonah was scared; he got swallowed by a whale for goodness sake! While he was inside of this fish, he prayed and he cried and called out to the Lord. There were storms and impetuous seas, and after three days and nights in this fish’s stomach, God finally HEARD him. Jonah said “Thou hast brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord” (Jonah 2:6b-7a KJV). God let him out of this pit and Jonah expressed his thankfulness. God asked him another time to go to Nineveh and Jonah went on a three day journey there. The people who Jonah could not envision ever repenting, did. Jonah felt sorry that he didn’t listen in the first place; he actually told God that he thought it would have been better for him to die than to live. God taught Jonah many lessons about compassion in his life. The Bible doesn’t really give us much closure on how Jonah’s life ended, just this infamous fish story. I find that fascinating, sometimes we get so caught up in how we’re going to end up, that we don’t pause to consider what’s happening in the moment. We consider our future more than our present, sometimes.

We've heard this story so many times as children, yet we rarely pause to admire it's relevancy in our lives.

Sometimes life gets crazy and we want out right away, so we turn to God and beg Him to let us out. It seems like we’re stuck there for a long period of time, and to make it worse, God’s not hearing our prayers. It seems He’s being silent. Well, fellow humans, Our God is NEVER silent. He’s trying to get your attention and He’s silently whispering “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5 NIV). You’re in this situation because the Lord is constantly using and refining his people. You are His masterpiece. He’s not going to take you into this sea just to leave you there. He’s using this situation to draw you closer to Him. To draw you to the cross. He’s refining not only you as a person, but He’s using your testimony to refine others as well. Sometimes we have to pause to hear that still small voice, we have to let Him speak to us.

Sometimes we can’t hear anything. Sometimes we’re screaming and calling out to Him and we hear NOTHING back. We are just waiting for God to put this sign in front of us to steer us one way or the other. We’re waiting for the big fish that has consumed us to spit us out. But it doesn’t. You just sit there in this pit desperate for help and alone and starving to hear a response from the Lord. Maybe your three days and nights feels like an eternity. I know what you do; you tell Him you’ll do anything, be anything, as long as He gets you out. Why do we hold God to a standard? Why do we say “I’ll do anything for You if. . .”? Don’t compromise with God. I’ve done it. I’ve told God what to do. I told Him that I want out of this pit right now and after He’s done getting me out, I’ll listen to what He wants me to do. But the reality is, He put us here in our storms for a reason. A reason you don’t know yet, and that’s okay. It’s a surprise. God wants you to have all the best in life, if only you let Him.

Be confident in the Lord’s plan for your life. Yes, you don’t have it all figured out, but that’s part of the adventure of life. God has it covered, lean on Him and He will direct your paths. I promise you that this won’t be a forever thing. You will soon know where this path is going. I know it’s going a million different directions left and right, and I hate to tell you that it could be that way for days, months, years to come. I also know that you feel like you’re in a wilderness and you’re thirsty to know what’s coming next. It’s only when our storms cease that we recognize just how beautiful He is and how great His love for us is. It’s only when our storms cease that we thank him for His faithfulness, but when do we ever pause to thank Him for his faithfulness in the midst of our storms? When do we ever acknowledge God's working in our life even though it's not how we want it to be right now?

Maybe you’ve been in your pit, whatever it may be, for years. Maybe you’re waiting to have to opportunity to move to your dream city. Maybe you’re waiting for this incredible job opportunity to come up. Maybe you’re waiting for your Prince Charming to come sweep you off of your feet. Maybe you want to have a child and you haven’t yet. Maybe you can feel God calling you towards something, whatever it is, and you don’t know WHEN or HOW you’ll get there. What are you seeking? Happiness? Money? Love? A Family? God? Are you seeking anything or are you just sitting around, waiting for God to send you a plane ticket to your destination in the mail? It’s not that easy, love. Sometimes waiting for something is hard work. Sometimes you have to work your butt off before you’ll ever get to where God has called you. HE IS REFINING YOU. You don’t have the tools you need yet. But I promise you, if this is His will, you will get them. He will provide.

Let’s rewind to when I told you about Jonah’s life, shall we? I find it fascinating that the passage says “When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord” I chose the KJV for this verse because I find the way it was worded so captivating. And isn’t it so true in our lives? We wait until we are in a storm, and then we remember the Lord. Then we love our God so much, and we would do anything for Him, because we want Him to stop this storm. Why is our love for God so conditional, yet his love is so incredibly unconditional? It’s human nature, I guess. We think we can get through life without a road map, but when we get lost, then we cry for help and ask for directions, when all along, God was there holding our road map right in front of us, but we never asked Him for it. I find that so fascinating that it uses the word “remembered” because that’s so true to life. We don’t remember God until He gives us a storm, when we ought to call upon His name and thank Him for every single blessing He gives us instead. But we don’t because we get distracted and we forget. We forget about the One who made us.

Maybe God put the sign to Nineveh right in front of you, and you’re scared. You’re scared of the unknown opportunities that lie ahead. Maybe He gave you your direction and you don't want that reality, so you say that God hasn't spoke to you. You say that you don't feel led anywhere because you're in denial. You’re not alone. I’m constantly freaking out about where God is leading me because in the certain career field that I feel led to, there is a huge amount of stress involved, and that’s scary. I’m terrified that I will be miserable for the rest of my life or I won’t succeed or I won’t be a good influence to those around me. Being God’s servant is scary because we live in a big, scary world, but He will be there to guide you. He promises to never leave you. He promises to guide you. He promises to show you His will, if you only call upon Him.

I also think it’s interesting that it says “and then God HEARD him.” Does God only hear us sometimes? There ARE millions of people in this very moment praying in the world. How does He hear all of us at once? I don’t think that it means that He just now heard Jonah; He doesn’t have a voicemail box that He goes back and listens to sometimes. I think it means that He just now considered Jonah’s prayer. God was now ready to let Jonah have his way. Jonah was now prepared with the tools that God needed him to have to be free from this whale’s stomach. He was brought to a point of surrender, because God knows we need that sometimes. Not to go all Carrie Underwood on you, but sometimes we need Jesus to take our wheel. Sometimes we need to surrender and read the road map because if we don’t then we’ll get further lost. We need to surrender so that we can feel the immense love of Christ on our hearts. Maybe God's not the on who's silent, we are.

I want to encourage you today, that if you think God’s not listening to your prayers because it seems like He’s not responding, He is responding. He is hearing what you have to say, and He is refining you. You have to listen to that still, small voice that’s telling you that He is preparing you for whatever answers you’ll be getting, and I promise you that it is worth the wait.

Oh how He loves us.

Breathe.

Enjoy the moment God has you in.

How great is our God.

Consider all of the blessings He’s given you right now in your life.

Our God is never silent.

"He is jealous for me."