Jonah 1:17-2:10 - In the Belly
What memory helps you appreciate the joys and/or challenges of motherhood? Tell a ‘mom story,’ either of your own mother or of your experience as a mother.
Read Jonah 1:17. Try to imagine Jonah’s experience in this verse. What physical sensations might he be experiencing? What emotions?
In what ways is the great fish an example of God’s great mercy in Jonah’s life?
Read Jonah 2:1-9. Which words or phrases note Jonah’s downward descent away from God’s presence? Which words or phrases mark the upward motion of God’s redeeming grace?
How does Jonah’s experience ‘in the belly’ help Christians today to endure with patience their own lonely experiences of suffering?
Are you in the belly of suffering and solitude? Share with one another and ask God to meet your brothers and sisters in the midst of trying circumstance with his great salvation.