Beautiful Word Devotional #301

In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me.

Jonah 2:2

You may know the story. Jonah called on the Lord from the belly of a gigantic fish. Jonah was there because he had rebelled against God when the Almighty told him to preach to the evil Ninevites. Jonah had responded by jumping on a boat and going the opposite direction.

Yet God rescued Jonah; he responded when Jonah called out to him from his deepest distress. And Jonah’s experience offers good news for us. Why? Because we don’t have to have everything together to be able to call on God for help and rescue.

The bottom line is, God responds to our cries of desperation. Yes, we sin. We are human, often broken, and too often stubborn. But the moment we realize our need for God’s intervention—the moment we choose to reach out to him from the pit we’ve chosen, if not created, for ourselves—is the moment God answers our call, rescues us, and gives us a second chance to obey him and please him.

Lord, I thank you that I don’t have to have my life or my heart in order before I can call on you, amen.