Near death, but God heard Me! Some of us have read or heard the story of Jonah. How he was swallowed by a great fish, but why was Jonah swallowed by this great fish? In the very first chapter of the book of Jonah he was told by God that he must go and preach to against Nineveh.. Why? Because of the evil plotting against the Lord God. The wickedness of the city had come before God and he chose Jonah to speak a word from the Lord to the city. But Jonah fled from God he thought...he headed for Tarshish down to Joppa where he found a ship, payed his fare and boarded the ship thinking he was free from the work of the Lord. As the ship Jonah boarded sailed for Tarshish, the Lord sent a great wind and such a violent storm. As they sailed the sailors began to throw the cargo off the ship to lighten the load, but still even that had no effect on the wind that the Lord had sent. When God speaks it shall not return to him void...when God speaks, all that he said shall come to pass. Now these men prayed, but to there pagan gods and as they thought on all that was happening they decided to cast lots to see whom the lots would fall on and of course they fell on Jonah. They questioned Jonah and his answer terrified them even more than the raging sea. His answer was..I am a Hebrew andI worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. They perceived that Jonah was running away from the Lord. As the sea got rougher and rougher Jonah said to the men, if you pick me up and throw me into the sea it will become calm. So the men took Jonah after they had prayed to God not to let them die for taking Jonah's life and cast him into the sea and the sea became calm, but they greatly feared the Lord and offered up a sacrifice and made vows unto the Lord. The bible does not mention the vows in detail, but I believe those vows would be that those men would serve the Lord all the days of their lives. So Jonah was swallowed by a great fish and there he was for three days..have you ever been in a circumstance for a period of time and did not see away out? Think for a minuet on the trials and tribulations that took place in your life! Drug habits, lust habits, sour attitude habits. Habits that almost made you lose your mind, habits that kept you up all night and kept you down while you were up all day. I must believe that while Jonah was in the belly of the great fish he must have felt like he was a lost cause. He ran from the commandment of God, and ended up in a place he thought he would never be. The belly of a fish. Over and over he must have asked himself. Why is this happening, what is going on and also can I get out of this? Well we serve a God who is willing and able to save us from anything, even from the pit of hell if we are will to call on his name as Jonah did, although he felt like and it looked like he was doomed, down for the count he remembered that Salvation comes from the Lord. God is a pleasant help in the time of trouble and we all get our share of trouble in this life wither we want it or not, if you haven't had any. Keep on living it's on the way. How will you respond to it when it comes will determine where you end up when passes. If God chooses you to do a work, its better to be obedient than to disobey his will, his will is always righteous and true, but most of all best for us and glory to him. Jonah was at deaths gate in his mind, but the spirit of Jonah knew how to call on God for deliverance which we all need in some way or another. We sometimes don't remember the things that will not get us out of trouble, but always remember the things that will get us into trouble. But I am so glad for the spirit of the living God that reminds us whom we belong to and whose we are. Although Jonah fell, he still belonged to God. The call God placed on Jonahs life only Jonah could do, and like I said earlier God's word will not Come back void. So remember. When hell is knocking at your door, call on the name of the one who is able to make the crooked path straight, the one who is willing to do all that we may ask and much more. If you feel God is calling you to perform a work to bring glory to his name, seek his direction, fast and pray, and as did Jonah. You too will answer God. Don't stay in hell while here on earth!