Jonah Moment: the moment that you’re in the worst possible scenario, by your own choice to avoid God’s will. Created by Esther Johnson and Sharon Carter.
It’s not a theological term, but it is one of the many I’ve created to explain life.
If you grew up in church, with someone who went to church, in a 10 mile radius of a church, chances are you’ve heard the story of Jonah.
For those that need a reminder, this is the “Esther”Notes version: Jonah was a man who had the gift of prophecy. God him called to go and save a group of people who the rest of civilization deemed unworthy. They were violent. They were scary. It was the worst possible location Jonah could think to go to. Jonah, absolutely terrified and very selfish, ran as fast as he could. He hid from God, all while still loving him, but not quite trusting him. Long story short, he ran right on to a boat, and he ended up in the belly of a fish. (If you grew up with biblical scholars, you too know that it is important to remember it was a fish, not a whale). He was terrified, again, and begged God to forgive him. Then, God gave him another chance, and had the fish spit him out. Jonah, begrudgingly, marched himself to Nineveh, and spoke to them about what God had told him. This saved the entire city. You can read the actual story starting in Jonah 1.
As a kid, I heard this story all the time. I heard it in Sunday School. I heard it in VBS. I even preformed as the back end of the fish for a church musical when I was in elementary school.
Each time I heard this story, I would be confused and angry with Jonah. Why wouldn’t he just listen the first time? Why would he think he knows better than God? Why would he ever think getting on a boat was a safe solution, when hiding from the one who created the ocean?
I wish I still thought life was that easy. Now that I am older, I think Jonah gets a bad reputation in terms of biblical characters. There are places I’ve said I’d never go and things I’ve said I’d never do. I have no room to judge Jonah, because when God calls me to face my worst fears and anxieties, I consider taking a seven day cruise to process it .
So now that we know Jonah’s backstory, you need to know a little about my mom.
Everyone believes their mom is the greatest, but my mom is actually the greatest. My mom is the most faithful, believing person I know. I have no doubt she speaks directly to God. You want something to happen? She can make it happen. In fact she is so faithful, she use to terrify us about praying for what we wanted versus praying for what we needed. One of her many examples of the power of her prayer is the blizzard of ‘93.
The day before the infamous blizzard, she prayed for snow to get out of a book report. She’s the reason all of you still rush to stores to buy bread and milk when they call for flurries, and no amount of science or logic can change my mind.
Because of this, as a child, I believed my mom was magic. Today, I still believe she is magic, but she is simultaneously a mighty prayer warrior. I know her prayers have saved my life a thousand times, and probably at least once today.
The first time I used the term “Jonah Moment” was during a conversation with my mom about what I’ve deemed the creator of Jonah Moments.
In the years leading up to this conversation, my family struggled. My mom taught for a couple of years at a local elementary school. While she is a faithful believer, she is not one of those dainty women you see in most southern churches. She is powerful. She is forthright. She is as rebellious, as you can get while still being faithful and law abiding. She is all of these things, while always being truthful, and almost always for a purpose. As an elementary teacher, she ruffled feathers in order to do what she thought was best. Fighting for what is right is not a new thing for my mom, but this time, it costs her job. In turn, we lost half of our household income, and my mom lost some of her pride.
My strong, rebellious, magical, faithful role model didn’t have a job for almost six months. I watched it slowly break her. We struggled more than my parents allowed me to know as a middle schooler. Living on a one educator salary became tight for a family of four. She was trying to be her best, but I could see we were slowly losing; losing financial stability, losing to depression, and losing our sense of normal.
Desperate, my mom took a job as a high school special education teacher. She did not have a degree in special education, and she had vowed to never teach students she couldn’t physically move on her own. But, just like Jonah, she marched to work, scared, somewhat begrudgingly, but just happy to be out of that fish.
Years later, she was beaming about her teenage students learning to read. She had so much joy, and had nothing but praises for her assistants. She was in a new school system that trusted her judgement, and respected her views. She was supported professionally, and had gained back the confidence to support our family personally.
During our conversation, years after losing what she thought she wanted, she said, “I never want to teach elementary school again.”
To which I replied, “Mom, I think that was your Jonah moment.”
She stopped painting her nails one of her many shades of mauve. She was intrigued and asked me to explain.
“You know... your Jonah Moment,” I replied. “You said you wouldn’t teach high school, but I think you were meant to. God put you in the belly of a fish, so you prayed to get out of the belly. You weren’t happy about it when you started, but you’re saving those kids. It’s your Jonah moment.”
This conversation didn’t have a radical affect on our family, but it did add a term to our vocabulary. Since then I’ve created a theory: we all have at least one Jonah moment, and that is okay. It is okay to doubt. It’s okay to question. It’s okay to end up in the belly of a fish, as long as you get out.
Sharing the testimony of “Jonah Moments” has been on my mind for a while, which was probably God foreshadowing what was coming.
A couple of days ago, I called my mom about being in the belly of my own fish. I could feel my mom smiling through the phone, as she replied “Esther... I think this is your Jonah moment.” Nervous and terrified, I agreed and knew this meant walking in complete faith. I could have no control, except His.
Just to clarify, I do not think those who struggle, struggle because they told God “no”. But, I do think it makes it a lot harder on us when we won’t listen. We are pushed to our limit, by our own idea of what we should do, when we aren’t giving his plan our all.
It’s not always professional or dramatic. Whether our limit is being without a job, crying because you can’t take it anymore, or hiding from God in a boat at sea, you will eventually be put in a situation where you have to say “Tell me what I have to do to get through this.” He doesn’t place shame. He just lifts us up, and says “Listen. Follow me. Trust me. That is how you get out of this.” 11/10 times his plan is always greater than the one we have for ourselves.
I wish I could tell younger Esther to have more grace towards Jonah. She didn’t comprehend that no matter how much we love God, we are humans with fears and anxieties.
How blessed are we to follow a God that allows us to question his plans, and meet us where we are when we’re ready to follow them.