God will be with me...

A few Sundays ago, I was teaching my five-year old son from his children’s Bible. We read the story of David and Goliath. His Bible had a wonderful line, that I emphasized as the point of the story: “God will be with me.” Over the course of the week, I reiterated that line with him, wanting to plant the principle in his heart.

The following Sunday, we read the story of Jonah. There were some illustrations of a despondent, lonely Jonah in the belly of the whale. Most artwork of this event depict Jonah in a large, spacious stomach cavern. 
 
This is an inaccurate picture. He would have been squashed in the guts of the whale, in a suffocatingly small space, squeezed as the intestines tried to digest him. He would have no control over his movement, no ability to flee or change position, as the muscles of the digestive tract compressed him. Gastric acid would burn his exposed skin. He would struggle to breathe, not just from the lack of oxygen, but from the confined space. He would be physically crushed, released, crushed again as the stomach tried to break him down into pieces. These physical waves of torment would have gone on seemingly endlessly. Trapped, crushed, without freedom to move, suffocating, nauseous, burning, are better words to paint the physical suffering that would be endured in such an event. 
 
I considered this silently as we read the story. I pondered Jonah's deliverance, and the power of redemption found in Christ. The spirit whispered a wonderful new line to plant in our hearts:  
 
“God will be with me… even in the belly of a whale.”