Rerouted: 30 Days Through the Book of JonahSample

Saved … but Still in Need of Saving

Dr. Joel Muddamalle

Jonah 2:1-3

I really hate admitting I need help. It doesn’t come naturally to me, and when I finally ask, I've usually waited until the situation got worse. I’ve realized my resistance to asking for help is rooted in a delusion of self-sufficiency — the idea that I can handle everything in my own power, strength and wisdom. This can lead me to run from God’s call, even though I know better.

That’s what happened to Jonah. He ran from God, and as a consequence of his disobedience, he was thrown into the ocean (Jonah 1:15-17), a symbol of chaos and destruction in the ancient world. What Jonah expected to find at the bottom of the ocean was death. But to his surprise, Jonah was saved when he was swallowed by a fish.

Jonah 2:1-2 says, “Then Jonah prayed to the Lᴏʀᴅ his God from the belly of the fish, saying, ‘I called out to the Lᴏʀᴅ, out of my distress, and he answered me …’” Amazingly, Jonah recognized the fish’s belly was a source of rescue from a greater enemy — death. He humbly cried out, though he knew he didn’t deserve to be saved from drowning (Jonah 1:15), and audaciously asked for deliverance from the fish.

Many scholars consider this prayer a song of gratitude, acknowledging God’s rescue amid distress. In the tension of being delivered (from drowning) but still needing deliverance (from the belly of the fish), Jonah sang.

Jonah’s story also connects to the larger, even more spectacular story of Jesus, who spent three days in the grave not to seek His own salvation but to secure ours. Like Jonah, we may be in the middle of distress. But it can help us to remember that, like Jonah, we are also in the middle of God's deliverance. We can thank Jesus for hearing our cries and continue calling on Him as we await our final rescue.

Jonah’s prayer shows a shift from self-focus to God-focus. He acknowledged that even being cast into the sea was under God’s control (Jonah 2:3). In all of this turmoil, our great God sustained and saved Jonah. And this is exactly what God is doing for us as we await our final salvation in eternity, where "the sea [is] no more" (Revelation 21:1).