Dependent on God Alone

(In the lead-up to our vote on our new elder nominees, we’ll have extra opportunities to see their gifts in action, including in these devotionals.)

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. - Jonah 2:1

There is a moment in every believer’s life when we come face to face with our own helplessness — and it is often in that very moment that we discover how completely we depend on God. Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the fish shows us exactly this.

In Jonah 2:2, we read that Jonah called out to the Lord in his despair, and the Lord answered him. Even at his lowest point, cut off and seemingly beyond help, Jonah turned to God — and God heard him. By verse 4, Jonah recognises that even his affliction has brought him to a place of remembrance: it is God he depends on, not himself.

Verses 5 to 7 describe Jonah as good as dead, sinking beyond hope, yet it was God who reached down and brought him back to life. There was nothing Jonah could do to save himself; his rescue was entirely the Lord’s doing. But we see in verse 9, Jonah’s despair has turned to thanksgiving. He declares with confidence that salvation belongs to the Lord alone.

This is the heart of Jonah’s prayer: complete dependence on God’s mercy, kindness, grace, providence, and preservation — and ultimately, on His salvation. Jonah learned, in the depths, what many of us only learn through our own hard seasons: that we were never meant to carry life in our own strength.

As we come together this week to worship our Lord and Saviour, let us be reminded that we too depend on God for everything — our spiritual walk and our daily, physical needs alike. When life brings us low, may we respond as Jonah did: not in despair alone, but in prayer, trusting that the God who heard him hears us too.

Together in Christ.

Peter Saba (Elder nominee)