In the Weeds

JONAH 2:5 - 7

5 The waters closed in over me to take my life;

the deep surrounded me;

weeds were wrapped about my head

6 at the roots of the mountains.

I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever;

yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God.

7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD,

and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

Feeling overwhelmed. Feeling trapped by the overwhelming depths. Where is my way out, my escape? Have I remembered God?

In her devotional book, At the Feet of Jesus, Joanna Weaver says that the root of the word "tomb" means "to recall or remember." The word for the place of final rest, a word signifying death, means to remember. When Jonah was at the place of his imminent death, he remembered. Isn't that so human? We start going down, we struggle and try to fight our way back to the surface, but we're pulled to the depths where the lush weeds ensnare. As we fight with the last breath...we then remember. We call on God. It seems that only until we reach that point of waning oxygen will we remember to cry out for help. Yet God's help is available to us every step of the way. Why do we wait until we're in the tomb? Why do we not "remember" until the weeds have their hold?

One of my favorite sayings--going back to my days of waiting tables--is, "I'm in the weeds." In the food service industry, that meant I needed help. I had too many tables at various stages of service and I couldn't meet their needs. If I told the hostess or the manager that I was in the weeds, I wouldn't be seated more tables. Someone would take drinks to a waiting table, another person would fix my salads, yet another would tray up food from the window so that as I was taking the order for one table, the food for another would be ready to be served. With this cooperative help, I was soon free of the weeds.

This feeling of being in the weeds resonates today. So many things to attend to...so many problems or potential problems...where do I go first? Do I dare start something that might not get finished because I will be pulled to another problem area? And what about those problems that just don't seem to make any sense? Problems that shouldn't be...but yet are.

I am in the weeds. That means I'm in the depths and my breath is failing. How will I use that final breath? Will I cry out? Oh, yes. But WHY did I wait until this desperate moment? Why did I not cry out as I was going down? Did I not recognize it as it was happening? or did I not include God in my plans?

Isn't this the story of Jonah? God had a plan for him, but he decided on another plan--his own. And he worked it. He worked it hard, until his plan resulted in rejection. He was thrown overboard and sank. It wasn't until he was in the depths, the tomb, that he remembered his faithful God. And He cried out.

I am also in the depths. I cry out, not for my success, but to be restored to my call; to proceed in what God has called me to do, with God as my partner. God will rescue me. And I will remember His rescue, not when I'm in the tomb, but as I follow His lead.

 

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