With a Thankful Heart 

(our theme for November)

Jonah 2:9  (The Message) 

I’m worshiping you, God,

    calling out in thanksgiving!

And I’ll do what I promised I’d do!

    Salvation belongs to God!

This verse is a part of the prayer Jonah spoke while he was in the belly of the whale.  You remember the story of Jonah.  The Lord had commanded him to go and preach a message of repentance to the inhabitants of Nineveh.  These were enemies of the Hebrews.  Jonah did not want this assignment and so he took off in a ship heading as far away from Nineveh as he could.  God caused a storm and just when it looks like all on the ship would be lost, Jonah admits to the crew his actions.  With his urging they throw him overboard.  The crew is saved and Jonah is swallowed by a great fish or whale, depending upon your translation.  After three days in the fish’s belly he prays.  

His prayer is done in the confidence that God hears him, calling out in thanksgiving. Even though he is still in the fish Jonah prays as if his salvation has already happened. He celebrates his salvation and promises to do what God wants him to do.  

I think all of us can identify with Jonah, at least at times in our lives.  Because of the choices we have made we find ourselves in challenging situations. We feel distanced from God and ashamed of the mess we have made of our lives.  In times like this it is hard to pray, to pray with thanksgiving knowing God hears and loves us. Like Jonah we might even make promises to God like, “If you get me out of this situation I will….” and you can fill in the blank.  But like Jonah, if we can own our mistakes, trust that God hears us we too can share thanksgiving and praise.  We too can believe that God is working to save us from this mess we have gotten ourselves into.  

How much better it would have been for Jonah if he had listened and followed God in the first place?  How sad that it took a whale eating him to make him see the consequences of his rebellion.  How much better it is for all of us to listen and follow God instead of being left to pick up the shattered broken pieces of our lives because of our rebellion.  

God heard Jonah’s prayer.  He was vomited up on shore.  Standing there stinking of fish he finally turned towards Nineveh to do what God had asked him to do.  When we finally repent we too will find salvation. But like Jonah, we will have to deal with the stink of the consequences of our actions but do so with the knowledge God is with us. In this hope with thanksgiving we can set our face towards the path God has set before us and know that we will have the strength and unlimited love of God to see us forward.

Let us pray:  Loving God, when we have made poor choices help us to turn to you knowing you love us and hear us.  Give us repentant hearts and the courage to face the future you have set before us in trust.  AMEN.

This devotional was written by Bill Green and read by Jim Stovall.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. 

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org. 

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.