Funny how in times of crisis, all the religion we ever learned comes flooding back.  Even when we're not living as we should, when we have a foundation of faith, it rises to the surface in crucial moments. Thus it was with the disobedient Jonah who one day found himself in the belly of a whale:

WOMAN: Once upon a time there was a man named Jonah. God, Himself talked to Jonah and told him to go to a 
     city called Nineveh, because the people there were very bad. But Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh.  Instead, 
     he got on a boat and headed out in another direction. You know what happened to him?
CHILD 1:  He got into trouble?
WOMAN:  Yes he did! God sent a storm and the boat started to sink. Everyone on the boat was afraid.

SAILOR: Who's fault is this. We have prayed and prayed to our gods, but the storm gets worse.
JONAH:  It's my fault. I guess you'll just have to throw me out. (They do).

WOMAN: And do you know what happened?
CHILD 1: He drownded!
CHILD 2: No he didn't, Silly. There's no such word as drownded. 
CHILD 1: (Stick out tongue)
WOMAN: Well, he didn't drown. God sent a big fish to swallow him, and Jonah was in the fish's stomach for three
     days.
CHILDREN:  Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!

JONAH: Uh, Lord?
JESUS (voice only): Yes, Jonah.
JONAH: (startled) Whoa! You're here!
JESUS: Of course.
JONAH: Well, I guess You saw what happened. I was swimming really well--I'm a great swimmer, Lord--and then 
     this stupid fish came along and swallowed me!
JESUS: I made that fish, Jonah.
JONAH: I mean, this really great and beautiful fish accidentally swallowed me. I could have made it to shore,
     especially after the storm stopped.
JESUS: And what shore were you going to swim to?
JONAH: (timidly) Uh, Nineveh?
JESUS: Jonah, my boy, welcome to the red eye.

WOMAN: Then the fish threw up!
CHILDREN: Grooooooooooooossssssssss!
WOMAN: And Jonah came ashore in Nineveh.
CHILD 1: What did Jonah do then?
CHILD 2: Took a shower!
WOMAN: Probably, but then he went and told the people of Nineveh that God was upset at them for behaving so
     badly. In fact, He was so mad that He was going to destroy Nineveh if they didn't start to behave themselves
     right away. Then the king of Nineveh said:

KING: Everybody has to behave and do what God says!

WOMAN: The people in Nineveh did the will of the Lord and began to live according to His plan. Jonah was saved
     from the big fish and the people of Nineveh were saved from destruction; do you know why?
CHILDREN: (shake their heads)
WOMAN: Because God loves us all.

                              from Isaiah Speaks or The First Street Church of the Messianic Mechanic, B. Haynes, 2006.

In truth, according to the scriptures, in his distress, Jonah called out to God from the belly of the fish. He knew he deserved death, and his only hope was that God would extend mercy.

"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. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and You listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, 'I have been banished from Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple. The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But You brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered You, Lord, and my prayer rose to You, to Your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord.' And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land" (Jonah 2). Jonah, of course, went on to proclaim the word of the Lord in Nineveh, and the city was saved.

Not all of our dark moments are as epic as Jonah's, but if in those moments we cling to our "worthless idols,"--money, academic degrees, human logic, a spouse, a child, another person (even a great preacher)--instead of turning to God, we forfeit the grace that could be ours.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills--where does my help come from? My help come from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip--He who watches over you will not slumber; Indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you--the Lord is Your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm--He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore" (Psalm 121). Amen.