Hopeless spaces can be sanctuaries when we call out to God. This message is based upon Jonah’s prayer inside the fish as he sunk to the depths of the earth and traveled the darkest parts of his own heart. That’s where he discovered the magnitudes of God’s grace.
In May of 2022 I entered the belly of the beast. No, I wasn’t swallowed by a fish like our Jonah. I was swallowed by another beast named cancer. The doctor tried to be kind and gentle, but cancer, man, that word is too big. A hurricane of destruction lies in the wake of those six tiny letters. Cancer. It resonated in my head and reverberated into the depths of my heart and mind. This threat loomed ominously over all my hopes and dreams. My life was a vapor. I saw the end. Death was encroaching on the life I had imagined. Hope was retreating. No! That’s a lie. Hope was gone and my world was filled with fear and devastation.
Have you been there? In the belly of the beast? Ever felt hopeless? Maybe you’re even feeling it this morning . . .
As we continue with Jonah today, we’re going to find him in a similar place. He had no hope and he had given up. Death was knocking. But before we get there, let me remind you of where we are in the story.
Over the last few weeks in our “White Flag” series, Randy has shared Jonah’s story about the “man who ran and ran away from God’s plan.” God said “Go” to Nineveh but Jonah said, “No.” and he went the other direction. Jonah said “No” because it put him in a “no win” situation. Let me explain: Jonah actually appears in the Bible before we get to the story we’ve been reading. In 2nd Kings 14, we learn that he spoke up for his people telling them that God will give them victory over the Assyrians – that includes Nineveh. A little later they know that he was right. They did defeat them and strengthened their borders. Because of this, Jonah gains a high reputation, honor, and prestige with his people, but he also gains some harsh and hostile enemies in Nineveh. He said “No” to God cause if he went, there’s no doubt those enemies would seek to kill him. And if God made him successful with them turning to God, well, then he’d return home to his own people as a traitor. They wouldn’t have been happy with him. His identity as a Hebrew and his reputation and standing would be destroyed either way. Life as he knew it, was gone. It was a “no win” situation. There was no hope. It was Cancer. – a death sentence.
So . . . Jonah ran. He took what he thought was the path of least resistance. (He doesn’t know it yet, but there will be resistance from God. Right?!?!) So he went down to Joppa (the opposite direction) where he boarded a ship sailing to Tarshish. Once on the ship, he went down into the hull and fell asleep, but God sent a storm to confront him. The pagan sailors ask Jonah what’s going on, and he tells them about God, calling him the “God who made the seas.” So with the seas raging, the sailors quickly turn to God and begin asking what they can do. Jonah would rather die than obey (’cause he thinks his life is already over) and so he says, “Throw me overboard.” They were reluctant and tried to figure out another way, but eventually they realize it’s the only way, and at his own request, they threw him overboard. Immediately, the raging sea goes calm. And in that moment the sailors knew. They knew they had encountered the true God and they began offering sacrifices and making vows to Him.
Now, Jonah knew what he was choosing. It was a “no win” situation anyway. He didn’t have any hope, ’cause he understood that his identity as a Hebrew, his standing and reputation was all as good as dead anyway. So . . . he believes it’s the end. There’s no upside, so he gives up. There is no hope. This is death and Jonah chose it. He doesn’t complain when they go to throw him overboard. This is not something being done to him though. This is his own choice. The end.
“But God . . .” (I love that phrase)
Turn with me to Jonah 1:17 and keep it open. We’re gonna read through 2:10 today. You can follow along on the screen too. If you don’t have a Bible, check in with our people at the welcome center. We’d love to give you one.
Jonah 1:17
"Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah,
and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."
He’s not dead!! I mean he might as well be, but this is crazy. Jonah made his choice, but God made a choice too. This is not what Jonah had planned. This is God’s plan.
"Jonah threw himself completely into the justice of God and found down there God's gracious provision." - Tim Keller
Jonah didn’t deserve to live. He didn’t even want to live. Jonah deserved death, but God chose to be gracious. Let’s continue:
Jonah 2:1-2
1From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
2He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
“From inside the fish Jonah prayed” That’s a crazy sentence y’all. I bet some of you have prayed FOR a fish, but none of you have ever prayed IN a fish!!
Jonah may have chosen death, but God had another plan. Jonah reaches the end of himself, and he finds God. And somehow, he is still alive. At this point, The belly of the beast becomes a sanctuary. (Like a worship center) It’s a place for Jonah to interact with God. A place without distractions, or obligations. A place of complete surrender. Verse 1 says he prayed “to the Lord “his God.” God doesn’t cease to be God just because we leave Him or run from Him. And Jonah still cries out to Him in prayer. In his distress, he calls to God . . . he prays. Just like us. In our darkest times, we call out to God. Even people who don’t know God cry out in those moments. Have you had a belly of the beast moment? When you felt hopeless? If so, did you find God there? When you look back on it, was it a sanctuary? a place where you cried out to God? Did He meet you, and form you?
Just moments before Jonah’s belly-of-the-beast moment, he was running from God, and now, in an instant, he is calling out to Him. Like Jonah, we’ve got to Stop running and start calling out to God.
Man, I see myself here. From one moment to the next . . . I’m just a walking contradiction. I can be all in with God and seconds later make a selfish choice, and most of the time it’s stupid things too y’all. I can be singing God’s praises in the car and then in the same breath start cursing the guy who cut me off on the road. I just live in this tension between my sinful-self and my identity in Christ . . . who He wants me to be.
But you know what I’ve realized? You know what can clear that tension up in an instant and make me see what really matters?
A brush with death. Right?!? And that’s what we see here with Jonah too. You know what I’m talking about – one of those moments or experiences where your mortality flashes before your eyes . . . an I-dodged-that-bullet moment. I don’t know, maybe another car is barreling into your lane and “by the grace of God” it misses. Maybe it looks like a surprising diagnosis, Maybe like me, you’ve heard the dreaded word – Cancer. Whatever it is, you know what I mean. All of a sudden, you see clearly. When everything else is stripped away . . . When surrender is your only option, you see what’s most important. When it’s out of our hands, when we are desperate and hopeless, God holds us in His, and that’s when we are most ready for rescue.
2 Years ago, When the doctor referred to my kidney and used the word “cancer”, my life took a turn. That moment called everything into question. Had I left dreams undone? And words unspoken? Had I wasted time and been distracted? Had I been consumed in doing the wrong things? I’m ashamed to say it, but the answer to all of those questions was, “Yes.” But now, in the clarity of that awful cancer moment, it all looked different. It’s as if the blinders were taken off my eyes. Now, each moment held a depth I hadn’t noticed before. Every moment was holy. I mean, they had always been holy moments ’cause God was present in them all, but I just couldn’t see it. My choices, my attitudes, my ambitions clouded my vision. I had ruined those moments, tarnished them, defiled them. In that moment however, I cherished them more deeply and I didn’t want to waste them. I became more intentional and felt a sense of urgency with my faith. It’s funny how death makes you think of life. It lets us see things differently.
For me, that moment wasn’t a death as much as it was a new start and a fresh perspective. Like Jonah, I chose to call out to God in that moment. And like Jonah, in this death I found something waiting for me. God was there. I discovered that the belly of the cancer beast was a sanctuary for me too. God was present and I understood that He would always be there, so I clung to the hope for the new life that He offered. No, I wasn’t sure if that new life would be here or in heaven, but it was new life nonetheless. It was life with Him. It was hope. Not hope in healing, but hope in His presence. God’s presence is where our hope lies. And He is what we cling to.
This is what happened to Jonah too. He got a new start and a fresh perspective in that fish and came out the other side different. His Hebrew identity (which had been his first allegiance) was stripped away in the fish, it just didn’t matter in that place. In the belly of the beast, (or maybe I should say in the “sanctuary,”) nothing that had been important before mattered. In God’s presence, everything else falls to the wayside. He didn’t have to hate the Ninevites anymore. He didn’t have to land that promotion at work, or get out of debt, or stress about his fight with the in-laws. He didn’t have to make dinner, do the laundry, or settle the argument between his kids. There was only one meaningful thing in the belly of the beast – God. And God was all that mattered. God is all that matters in our sanctuary too. In this place. So put everything else aside and focus on Him and Him alone. Ask Him to give you a new start and a fresh perspective. Leave today changed. Leave a new person. How do you do that?
Let’s see what Jonah says beginning in verse 2.
Jonah 2:2
He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
Do you hear it? In my distress, You . . .
In my death, You . . .
You answered . . .
You listened.
I was dead but You, God,
but God,
God is all that matters in that place.
Jonah 2:3
You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers swept over me.
Wait . . . Jonah says “you hurled me.” It was the sailors, and Jonah told them to do it, but he says here that God had His hand in it. How does that work? Jonah doesn’t seem to be saying this out of anger. He’s not placing blame on God. He’s actually giving Him credit. He refers to the waves as “your waves.” I think the difference here is perspective. Now that he’s in the fish and has survived death, now that he has recognized hope inside the belly of the beast and that God still cares for him . . . Now he can see that God used those waves and those sailors to bring him back. We need to learn to recognize God’s hand in our lives. And sometimes . . . It’s a scary thought, but sometimes God’s hand looks like a beast. Those difficult, belly-of-the-beast moments may actually be sanctuary moments. Sacred, formational, God’s hand moments.
My cancer scare was like that. I was originally angry at God ’cause I thought my problem was kidney stones, but eventually, I was able to see that God allowed me to have kidney stones so my cancer would be discovered. God saved me from cancer by allowing me to have kidney stones. I’m not blaming Him. Well . . . not anymore. Now that I know, now that I see His purpose, I’m giving Him credit. (By the way, I was one of the lucky ones. I know for some of you, a horrible diagnosis doesn’t always end with healing. All I can say is that I’m sorry. I can only pray that there’s some other purpose you’ll discover one day too.)
Jonah understands that the sailors and the waves were all being used by God for something greater.
Jonah 2:4-10
4I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight;
yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’
5The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God, There's that phrase again.
brought my life up from the pit.
7“When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
8“Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
9But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’ ”
10And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Vomited . . . could there be anything worse? Ugh. At my house, my wife “doesn’t do” vomit, so I’m the vomit cleaner upper – not a job I enjoy. It’s bad enough being around vomit, but BEing vomit? That’s a whole other level. All the showers in the world can’t undo that damage.
Here’s the crazy thing though. It’s actually possible that being vomit was a blessing and a part of God’s plan. You see the Ninevites worshipped a god named Dagon, and Dagon was half fish and half man. So . . . when a messenger shows up literally from the fish’s mouth . . . well, let’s just say they’re gonna be all ears. Y’all, God uses everything for good. Even BEing fish vomit.

There are a few other things I want to point out to you in these verses:
First of all, look at verse 4. This is Jonah’s repentance moment.
Jonah 2:4
I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
If you’re not paying attention you’ll miss it, ’cause if I’m being honest, Jonah’s prayer here is not exactly the poster child “prayer of repentance”. As a matter of fact, you won’t find any confession here. As you continue through the rest of his prayer it almost sounds like he’s trying to convince God of his own goodness. He says, “I remembered you,” and “My prayer rose to You.” “I will sacrifice to you.” “I have vowed.” “I, I, I . . .“
But God . . . yes, now I’m going to use the phrase.
God can see what we cannot. God knows Jonah’s heart, and I believe that verse 4 is where we can get a glimpse of it.
He says, “I have been banished from your sight.” Jonah understands exactly where he is and how his own decisions have brought him to this place, but then he says, “yet I will look again toward your holy temple.” You see, the temple is where God’s presence resided. As he commits to looking toward the temple, he is committing to looking to God. Like Jonah, We must turn from our own way and commit to look to God. Jonah is describing a u-turn. He is turning from one path and heading toward God’s. This IS THE definition of Repentance – to stop, turn around, and move towards God. It’s simply to come back to Him.
Yes, it’s usually accompanied by words of confession, and I think that’s healthy and good for us to practice, but I also believe God can forgive us without words. I think Jonah repents with his new choices. He repents with his actions here. He repents with obedience by turning to God and moving toward Him. And to be clear, I’m not so sure Jonah is wholeheartedly chasing God even at this point. I think he has resigned himself to the fact that he can’t get away from God and that there really is no other choice, but to obey. As many have said before, Jonah IS the “Reluctant Prophet.” He’s not feelin’ it, but he chooses to obey.
Look at verses 5-6, Jonah prays,
Jonah 2:5-6
5The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
I want to point out all the downward movement here. This is a recurring theme in Jonah:
- He went “down” to Joppa.
- “Down” into the ship.
- “Down” into the waters.
- Now the fish has taken him “down” to the roots of the mountains.
- “from deep in the realm of the dead” is what vs 2 says.
Jonah has run from God to the depths of the earth and been brought to death himself.
And now hear the beauty in vs 6
Jonah 2:6b
But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.
This is the first mention of the word “Up.” And it’s turning point. When God brings us up, it’s an expression of His incredible grace. We don’t deserve it, but God lavishes it upon us anyway. And . . . man . . . grace is always a turning point.
Let me just say to you today. No matter where you find yourself. You aren’t too deep. You may think those identities, or those addictions, or that relationship, or whatever . . . you might think it’s too deep, but God . . . but God . . . do you see it?
But God.
You’re not in too deep. Cry out to Him. He will hear your cry. He will bring you up. Up from the depths. Up from your sin. Up from wherever you find yourself today. Turn from your ways and look upon His holy temple, that’s Jesus y’all. Look where God’s presence resides, in Jesus. Turn from your ways and look to Jesus.
Notice these last verses, 8-9
Jonah 2:8
8“Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
9But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’ ”
This describes Jonah’s white flag. He surrenders the worthless idols that he clung to – His Hebrew identity, his independence, his preferences, and he recognizes that they got in the way of God’s love. He declares that he will continue to praise God and make sacrifices to Him. For now, he understands that it is God alone who saves. As a man in a fish in the bottom of the sea, he did nothing to save himself. It was all God’s work. It was God’s gracious work.
Salvation comes from the Lord! There’s nothing we can do to earn it. Nothing.
We are not drowning in sin and calling out to God to help save us. We are sunken to the bottom of the sea of sin with no life in us, and God dives down, brings us to the surface, and breathes life into us. Salvation comes from the Lord! Surrender to Him!
If that’s you today, you’re at the bottom of the sea and you’re overwhelmed by the places that your own choices have brought you. If you feel like there’s no hope. Hear me. “But God” Whatever it is. “But God.” Salvation is from the Lord. Stop running and start calling out to Jesus. He is hope for the hopeless. Even in the belly of the beast, salvation is from the Lord. In the belly of the beast, He is with you. That place is a sanctuary. He is calling you to meet with Him there so He can bring you to a new place, with a new perspective, and a new hope. His name is Jesus! AMEN.