Jonah 2:9-10
I’ve always loved the story of Jonah. From the time I heard the story told on the flannel graph in Sunday school to doing a deep dive study of the book to preach it, this short 4-chapter book has always pricked my heart. As I was reading it this time, one part that stood our afresh was that when Jonah finally cried out and God answered his prayer, it says, “And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” (Jonah 2:10) Jonah declares, “I’m saved!” And then he was vomited out onto dry land.
Get that picture in your mind. Jonah, lying on a beach covered in bile and guts, likely disoriented, and squinting because he’s been in pitch darkness for three straight days. That’s not exactly how I usually imagine deliverance. I’m more apt to picture salvation as clean, tidy, maybe even a little picturesque. Jonah’s salvation was anything but. He didn’t step out of the fish heroically, he was hurled out, soaked, smelly, and staggering. It was undignified. It was messy. But it was grace.
The story of Jonah calls us to remember that God’s grace is often messy. Our lives are often messy. I’m struck by the fact that Jonah’s prayer was sincere, but his life was still a wreck. And yet, God responded—not because Jonah had cleaned himself up, but because God’s grace moves toward us in our lowest places. God’s rescue wasn’t something Jonah earned. He didn’t work his way out of the fish. He simply acknowledged the truth: “Salvation comes from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). The way that salvation was realized was not with a gentle lift to safety, but with a gut-wrenching (pun intended!) push to shore. That’s messy grace—undeserved, unrefined, and unbelievably good.
Maybe that’s where you are right now. Maybe you’ve been through the storm, swallowed by regret, and are now trying to stand on shaky legs on the other side. You’re not polished, but you’re rescued. You’re not perfect, but you’re back on dry land. And that’s grace. I’m so thankful that God’s grace doesn’t wait for us to get it all together. He finds us in the deep, meets us in the belly, and sets us free – even if freedom looks more like vomit than victory.
Pastor Ryan Paulson