The Mercy That Finds You in the Dark

We’ve all done things that make us want to hide from God…to run the other direction and keep from shining a light on who we are or what we’ve done. If part of your life is in the dark and you are carrying the weight of that every day, I’ve been there. There’s a way out. The book of the Bible called Jonah has a message for you. And it’s really good news: You can’t out-sin or outrun the mercy of God. It’s chasing after you right now. 

If you’ve heard Jonah’s story, you probably remember the whale. As a kid, I pictured Jonah getting tossed overboard, swallowed whole, and then spat out on a sunny beach so he could live happily ever after. But that’s not really the point of Jonah’s story — and it’s not where it ends.

The story of Jonah is really about a God of epic mercy — mercy big enough to chase you down, stop you in your tracks, and even change your heart toward people you never thought could deserve it. Even when that person is you. It’s about a God who will do whatever it takes to bring you back to Him.

If God’s mercy was big enough for Jonah — and for the brutal, godless city of Nineveh — it’s big enough for you too.

Mercy Even When You Resist

Jonah was a prophet, called to go to Nineveh — Israel’s sworn enemy — and tell them to repent. They were violent and profane and Jonah wanted no part of it. God didn’t make sense to him, so Jonah ran in the opposite direction, booking a ship to Tarshish — the edge of the known world.

Maybe that’s you right now. Maybe you’ve been putting as much distance between you and God as you can. Maybe you’ve said “no” to anything spiritual for a long time -- or just decided you’re far enough away that there’s no going back.

I’ve been there. In college, I made a decision or two that pulled me slowly from my faith over four years. I ended up very far away and facing decisions in my adult life I had no wisdom to make. I repeatedly told God “no” to church, and I said yes to career and money. I thought that would be final. But it wasn’t. He came after me anyway — just like He came after Jonah.
This amazing mercy of God pursues you, even when you run. He doesn’t just wave sadly as you walk away. He comes looking for you, determined to bring you back home.

Mercy Doesn’t Look LIke You Think it Will

Jonah’s running ended with a storm so fierce it threatened to break the ship apart. The sailors tossed him into the sea, and God provided a whale to swallow him whole. Three days in a whale’s belly sounds like judgment — but it was mercy.

Sometimes God’s mercy doesn’t feel soft or sweet. Sometimes it’s the storm that wrecks your plans or the darkness that forces you to stop running. Sometimes mercy feels terrible — because it’s meant to stop you in your tracks and turn you back toward God.

In the belly of the fish, Jonah prayed:

“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me… You brought my life up from the pit, Lord my God.” (Jonah 2:2, 6)

Jonah repented before he was spit out. The darkness was what made him realize God was his only hope. The mercy of 3 days and nights in the belly of the whale was exactly what he needed. And God knew that. 

If you feel stuck, sidelined, or swallowed by life, it might just be the mercy of God — not punishing you, but pausing you. Not because He’s against you, but because He loves you too much to let you keep running toward destruction.

Mercy to Reckon with God

After the whale, Jonah obeyed God and preached to Nineveh. The city repented — and God spared them. You’d think Jonah would be thrilled. But he was angry. He didn’t want God’s mercy to reach people he thought didn’t deserve it. He was mad at God: he didn’t like part of God’s character and decisions.

The mercy of God allows us the time and space to reckon with who He really is — gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love… towards us -- and toward our enemies. If you have been running sometimes it’s hardest to give it to yourself. God has as much mercy for you as he does for anyone else he loves. 

Reckoning means adjusting to an unchanging reality. For Jonah, that reality was this: God’s mercy is bigger than his own ideas about who deserves it. For you and me, it might mean accepting that His grace can reach into every dark corner of our lives — even the ones we still feel ashamed of — and also into the lives of those who have hurt us.

The Sign of Jonah

Centuries later, Jesus said Jonah’s story pointed to Him:

“As Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.” (Luke 11:30)

Like Jonah, Jesus stood before a sinful world and said, “Repent.” But unlike Jonah, He didn’t run from the mission — He ran toward the cross. His journey into death, hell and back to life again was foreshadowed in Jonah’s journey into the belly of the whale and back onto the beach, alive. 

Jesus used his life to offer mercy to everyone — the religious elite, the social outcasts, and the worst of sinners. His death and resurrection became the ultimate sign of God’s mercy: new life for anyone who believes. 

You’re not too far gone. His mercy is for you. No matter how far you’ve run. No matter how dark your surroundings. In fact, the relentless mercy of God has been chasing you your whole life.

God’s mercy is epic -- and also deeply personal. It’s for you. And it’s right here, right now. Today is the day to stop running. To turn toward the God who has been pursuing you all along and say to him “Ok Lord, I give up; no more running. Please show me your mercy. Save me from this darkness. And bring me back to life again through Jesus.” Amen