Have you ever been in the belly of a fish?

Well, okay, have your ever felt like you were in the belly of a fish?

You know, in a situation where you felt trapped and there was no escape

We get like that sometimes. Maybe not when we're young and invincible. But, in later years, when our lives get tangled and convoluted .

Troubles come along and we find ourselves swallowed in situations that have no happy ending. We are caught in a war zone, a battlefield of woes.

The interim pastor at Piggott First Baptist Church, Bro.Greg Rainwater, recently preached about Jonah. It was a good sermon. He told how Jonah had disobeyed God and was sailing away to Tarshish, not Nineveh as he was told.

You remember Jonah, don't you? He was swallowed by a whale. Well, a big fish anyway.

He was thrown overboard into the rough sea by a crew of distressed sailors who thought they were going to die in a violent storm.

They believed that Jonah was the reason for the storm. He thought so too and told the sailors to toss him into the sea. "Pick me up and throw me into the sea and it will become calm, "Jonah said.

They did and it did. Soon Jonah found himself engulfed by threatening waves, with seaweed wrapped around his head..

Then God provided a great fish to swallow Jonah. Note the word provided. It wasn't just any old great fish.

Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.

That left Jonah with time to think.

Evidentally he decided that this would be a good time to pray too.

It was his prayer that caught my interest.

Believe me, it wasn't a perfunctory prayer. It came from the depths of his soul.

That's how we are, isn't it? When life gets serious, we decide to get serious about prayer.

Jonah's prayer was a long one so I will only mention some of it.

This is what he related:

In my distress I called to the Lord and he answered

From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry

You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me.

To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever, But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God.

Now that's my favorite line in Jonah's prayer, the part about bringing a life up from the pit.

At that moment, Jonah's life was in the pits.

When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose up to you, to your holy temple.

The Good Lord had other plans for Jonah so he commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Sometimes I think the Good Lord has to deal harshly with us before we will listen to Him.

No, He doesn't put us in the belly of a fish, but He sometimes lets us hit bottom before we pay attention.

He is a compassionate God.

He will provide.