In our times of need, God is present. God responds. Even after disobedience, God hears us.
My husband and I have three children. A two-year-old, 13-month-old and 6-month-old. For those of you with kids, you probably know two-year-olds are a special breed. They are three things that don’t mix well: curious, navigating newfound independence and have no understanding of consequences.
My two-year-old has many interests. He loves cars, movies, and books. He also loves jumping off of our coffee table. Each time he has jumped off of the table, we have told him “no” and explained to him that he will eventually get hurt if he keeps making that decision. To him, this means nothing. He continues to chase after the adrenaline rush from jumping off the table.
As you can imagine, one of his stunts did not go well and he got hurt. After he fell, he came running to us wanting comfort and help. Even though we had warned him of this exact occurrence time and time again, we still gave him comfort. We still choose to be there for him in his time of need.
In a much greater way, God did the same for Jonah. Jonah had directly disobeyed God and the consequences of that decision were not going well for him. He had been thrown overboard and swallowed by a giant fish. He was emotionally and physically in a dark place. He cried out to God and God heard him. God was there for him. God responded to him despite his direct disobedience.
Thankfully, God does this for us just as he did for Jonah. In our times of need, God is present. God responds. Even after disobedience, God hears us. He comforts us. He desires for us to call out to him. What is your dark place? Your time of need? Who are you calling out to? Our God wants to hear your voice. He wants to be the one that we call out to.
