{"id":926,"date":"2019-07-01T02:15:22","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T02:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=926"},"modified":"2020-04-17T00:04:27","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T00:04:27","slug":"youre-belly-whale-make","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/07\/youre-belly-whale-make.html","title":{"rendered":"If You’re in the Belly of the Whale, Make the Most of It"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"unsplash-logoSho
Sho Hatakeyama<\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The most famous part of the story of Jonah in the Old Testament is the moment in his life when he was swallowed by a huge fish:<\/p>\n

17\u00a0Now the\u00a0Lord\u00a0provided\u00a0a huge fish to swallow Jonah,\u00a0and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

1\u00a0From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the\u00a0Lord\u00a0his God.\u00a02\u00a0He said:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIn my distress I called\u00a0to the\u00a0Lord,
\nand he answered me.
\nFrom deep in the realm of the dead\u00a0I called for help,
\nand you listened to my cry. Jonah 1:17-2:2<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Jonah had a “come to Jesus” conversation in the belly of a whale. It\u2019s hard to keep your dignity and pride when you\u2019re being partially digesting by a whale. So, he decides it\u2019s as good of a time as any to get his life right. Here\u2019s the finish of his prayer:<\/span><\/p>\n

8\u00a0\u201cThose who cling to worthless idols
\nturn away from God\u2019s love for them.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

9\u00a0But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
\nwill sacrifice\u00a0to you.
\nWhat I have vowed\u00a0I will make good.
\nI will say, \u2018Salvation\u00a0comes from the\u00a0Lord.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

10\u00a0And the\u00a0Lord\u00a0commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah 2:8-10<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Some of you have been there. No dignity, no pride, life has beaten you up and literally vomited you back onto dry land.\u00a0<\/span>You never, ever, ever thought you would be where you are today.\u00a0<\/span>You never thought your career would turn out this way, that your marriage would turn out this way, that your kids would turn out this way. You never thought you would grow old, that you would lose your health, that you would lose your retirement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whatever it might be, some of you have been and maybe you are right now in the belly of the whale. When you\u2019re there, when you\u2019ve been humbled by life or by God, you can give up, you can get angry,\u00a0<\/span>or you can get right.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/b>If you\u2019re in the <\/b><\/span>belly of the whale<\/b><\/span>, make the most of it.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no fun being in the belly of the whale. No one asks for it, you wouldn\u2019t wish it on your worst enemy. But sometimes you find yourself where you never thought you\u2019d be. So, when you\u2019re there, make the most of it. James, the half brother of Jesus, talked about this in the New Testament:<\/span><\/p>\n

6 That is why Scripture says:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGod opposes the proud
\nbut shows favor to the humble.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

10\u00a0Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:6, 10<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This is called repentance. You can either humble yourself, or you will be humbled in the belly of the whale. Either way, we will all be humbled. That\u2019s not a fun fact we like to celebrate, but it is a fact.\u00a0<\/span>So, when life has you beat down, you can give up, you can get angry, or you can get right.\u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s never fun being in the belly of the whale, but when you\u2019re there, might as well make the most of it. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you’d like to connect and see more of the content I’m working on, be sure to like my church Facebook page<\/a>. You can also find me on social media: Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most famous part of the story of Jonah in the Old Testament is the moment in his life when he was swallowed by a huge fish: 17\u00a0Now the\u00a0Lord\u00a0provided\u00a0a huge fish to swallow Jonah,\u00a0and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 1\u00a0From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the\u00a0Lord\u00a0his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[31,74,172,408,75],"class_list":["post-926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-next-steps","tag-bible","tag-jonah","tag-old-testament","tag-prophet","tag-whale"],"yoast_head":"\nIf You're in the Belly of the Whale, Make the Most of It - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"No one wants to be at the moment in their life when everything falls apart. 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