Jonah 2:10

Jonah 2:10 
English Standard Version (ESV)

 Once again, Jonah describes 2020 in a sentence. 

  Would you agree that everything is relative? If you'd ask Jonah two weeks before this how he might feel about being vomited by a great fish onto dry land, he might  have felt less than enthusiastic about the concept.  But from the belly of that great fish, he was probably excited about the concept, although likely less so about the execution.  I can't imagine this process as very appealing or hygenic.  There would likely be a considerable stench emanating from Jonah after the process was complete.
  But Jonah emerged from the fish.  He had endured suffering and come through the trial.  We're never the same after the trials of life -- they always change us.  We carry physical scars as reminders of what we endured.  We carry emotional scars, wounds that are often much deeper than the physical ones.  Unseen by others, these can cause deep suffering. 
  But we always emerge.  This is what it means to be a Christian -- we emerge through the trials of life.  When Jesus appeared after the resurrection, he had a changed body that was often initially unrecognized by those he knew best.  But it still carried the scars. 
  You and I, we emerge through our trials, thanks to Jesus Christ.  Scripture teaches us that even when our trials end in death, we emerge through those, entering the eternal Kingdom of God, where light and life reign.  For the trials that do not end in death, we still emerge, always called and sent by God.  Often the scars still torment us, the memory of what we endured stays with us.  This can sometimes we used in ministry, to reach out to a fellow traveler along the way, to connect with another scarred individual, and share our common humanity, and perhaps share what hope looks like when one walks with such scars.
  I will admit that I don't welcome challenges.  I don't like the thought of the belly of the great fish, and the process of being vomited onto dry land, however welcome it may be, makes me somewhat queasy.  But I pray for the courage to hope in the midst of challenges, for God's steadfast presence to comfort me in the dark nights of the soul, and for the wisdom to recognize opportunities to share my experiences, in joy and weeping, with others who are in search of hope in this often chaotic world.