Contemplative Bible Reading

Jonah 2:5 (New International Version)

The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.

This verse is from Jonah’s prayer as was trapped in the stomach of a great fish. The last line of this verse struck me. Seaweed was wrapped around my head.

In one sense this is a stupid thing to say. Hey Jonah, you are dying in the stomach of a great fish monster of some kind. Do you really care if seaweed is wrapped around your hear?

This is how we can be sometimes. Given that we live in the depths of sin on this sinful world with people mistreating us and us stumbling over our own imperfections…we manage to pray to God with something like, “Hey God,  the pressure in my tires is low. Please don’t let me have a flat.” How can we care about something so insignificant?We don’t see the big picture. We don’t see where we live. We don’t see how we live. We don’t see how our own nature brings us troubles. We just see a tire that doesn’t have enough air in it. We just see a tuna fish sandwich that has a little more mayo than we like. We just see that the person sitting in front of us in church has a little longer hair than we prefer.

Oh God, help me to see the situation you see. Help me to raise my sights above a little piece of seaweed wrapped about my head.