Who Needs You To Meet Her Right Where She Is

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me.”

MARK AND I LIVED IN A QUIET, friendly neighborhood in Oklahoma where it wasn’t uncommon to see people out walking their dogs or riding their bikes after dinner. But one summer night, the air had not cooled off even after the sun had been down for a while, so rather than taking a stroll outside, we settled down in the living room to watch TV.

Sometime after nine o’clock, the doorbell rang. I thought maybe it was someone who needed help. I went to the door and looked through the peephole. I saw a large man I didn’t recognize.

He was facing the street so I couldn’t see his face, but he had his sweatshirt hood pulled up over his head. After looking at Mark, I looked down at the door and realized that the deadbolt (the only lock on the front door) was not secure.

Mark had seen my frightened look and reached the door quickly, snapping the deadbolt into place. As soon as it clicked, the man knew we were home and decided he was coming inside. He didn’t need help. We did. The threat wasn’t just imagined. It was real.

The stranger kept rattling the doorknob and shouting taunts. For the next ten minutes, Mark reinforced the door by leaning all his weight into it and reassuring me that we would be okay. I called the police, and the man finally gave up and left in a vehicle just before they arrived.

I spent the next few weeks terrified. I became hypervigilant about our safety. I ordered video cameras and extra security. I checked with my neighbors to see if they had any footage of the incident.

I no longer felt safe in my own home. I couldn’t sleep at night because every time I closed my eyes, I could hear the banging and the mocking voice on the other side of the door. I needed the Lord to step in and restore my peace. I needed Him to remove my fear and stop this dreadful scene from playing over and over in my mind. My friend, I hope you don’t have a similar story of your own.

The book of Jonah tells the familiar story about a man being swallowed by a giant fish after he was tossed overboard from a sailing vessel. God had told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh to preach repentance to the people there. Jonah did not want to obey the Lord; instead, he took a ship in the opposite direction toward the city of Tarshish. On the way, a great storm arose. The ship was in terrible peril. Finally, the crew threw Jonah overboard, attributing the storm to his disobedience.

After being swallowed, Jonah remained in the belly of the creature for three days before being spit up on shore. If ever a person needed God to meet him where he was, it was Jonah.

I picture him covered in seaweed and floating in the remains of half-digested fish food. I think he may have been bleached white from the salt water and the fish’s stomach acid. His skin must have been wrinkled by the constant moisture, and his eyes must have strained to see anything in the darkness as the fish swam at the bottom of the deep. But Jonah didn’t lose hope.

“From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: ‘In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me.’” When Jonah cried out to the Lord, God delivered him out of what seemed like an impossible situation.

Momma, when we feel trapped in overwhelming circumstances, God hears us. Our situations do not change His ability to hear our voice or our hearts. No matter how deep the problem, or how scary the moment, the Lord is with you and will meet you right where you are. You are never alone.

Tonight we pray for the momma who needs to hear that the Lord will meet her right where she is in this exact moment. Lord, You see everything that is making her situation more difficult, and You are removing each obstacle even now. Lord, please don’t let the sound of the enemy cause this momma to retreat from her destiny. Please don’t let fear find a foothold in her heart. Strengthen her to keep going. Please help her to keep trying and looking to You. Remind her that You are right beside her. Bless her as she continues forward. She is strong in You.

In Jesus’s name we pray, amen.

Lord, please meet me in this moment with help for this situation: