Christ Came Down to Lift Us Up

I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet Thou didst bring up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God. (Jonah 2:6)

Jonah 2:1-10; Ps. 123-12; Prov. 5:22; Luke 4:18; Rom. 6:16, 7:23; Gal. 6:1

What Is God Saying?

Jonah is the runaway prophet. He ran away from the presence of the Lord. He ran away from his responsibility in an unpleasant assignment. He hated the idea that God's love and mercy reached beyond Israel. To be an instrument in God's hand to save Nineveh was unthinkable. How and why should the God of Israel do such a thing to people who were ignorant of God and His laws? That was more than Jonah could handle, so he ran away. He ran as far and as fast as he could, and it was all downhill. That is the direction and destiny of all disobedience to God.

It took courage for Jonah to admit that the raging sea breaking up the ship might be traced to him. "I know it is because of me, throw me into the sea" (1:12). To their credit, the sailors tried hard to bring the ship back to land, but the seas grew more tempestuous. Jonah went overboard. The Lord had a great fish handy to take him on the next leg of his reluctant journey back to his senses and God-assigned task. To Jonah, this was the ultimate horror. Running away from God always ends in a cul-de-sac. For Jonah, it was the "belly of Sheol" (2:12). He had come to the end of himself. Then "when his soul fainted within him, he remembered the Lord" (2:7). He couldn't forget God, and God wouldn't forget him, and the chapter closes on this positive note, "Deliverance belongs to the Lord" (2:9).

How Does This Apply To Us?

Whatever may be our form of disobedience, whatever may have made us want to run away from God's best for our life, whatever unpleasant task we may have shirked, not choosing God's way leads to what is called "the belly of Sheol, a land whose bars close in upon us forever." Yes, forever, unless we turn to God and let Him bring our lives up "from the pit" (2:6). That is what Jesus came to do. That is what He wants to do. As helpless as Jonah, lodged in the great fish's interior, is the one who runs from God. We can run from God, but it's all downhill until Jesus, our Savior, breaks the bars and lifts us into His presence, where there is fullness of joy, and to His right hand, where there are pleasures forever more.

Pray With Me

Lord, I went down, but You brought me up. Without the lifting power of Your love, the whole course of life is down to "the land where the bars close in forever." From the darkness and captivity of sin, from the bondage of evil and the burden of guilt, I have cried, and not in vain. Yes, even from the depths, You heard my voice. Through Your power, even in sin's imprisonment, You lift and rescue and redeem.

You have given me a song of jubilant victory instead of a cry of mournful defeat. Mine is now a living hope instead of a dying despair. My path leads now to the sunrise of liberty and life and not toward the darkening sky of bondage and death.

I went down, but You brought me up. I went down in humility, and You brought me up in the glory of the Resurrection. I went down in penitence, and you brought me up in pardon. I went down into the gates of death and You brought me up into the way everlasting.

In Christ, the God of Heaven came down to the "land whose bars closed in" on the sin and suffering of humanity. In Your ascended glory and by the authority of Your love, lift me to Your holy presence, where I shall be cleansed in heart and renewed in spirit. There, I shall walk in blessed fellowship with You. Bring me up from the murky depths of conflicting loyalties and doubts. Bring me to the clear heights of a new consecrati0n and a trusting faith.

To the eternal praise and glory of Him who came down to earth that He might, by the power of His love, lift our souls to Heaven. Amen.

Moving On In The Life of Prayer

We can run away from God or wait upon God in prayer. If we wait upon God, "our strength is renewed, and we mount up with wings as eagles" (Isa. 40:31).