In the Book of Jonah, God’s use of Jonah was showing that Jonah was faithful to worship God during his darkest time, a near-death experience. After Jonah told the captain and mariners who he was and that he had fled from God, he then told them to throw him into the sea to spare them from the storm.
As the storm became more tempestuous against them, they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased its raging. The men on the ship then made vows and offered sacrifices to the LORD, fearing Him. Jonah apparently sank to the depth of the sea and God sovereignly appointed a great fish to keep him from dying.
When God appointed the fish to swallow Jonah, “he prayed to God from the belly of the fish” (Jonah 2:1). Verse 2 expresses his distress by saying “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice”. Jonah spoke to the Fatherly care and deliverance of God.
Jonah here also acknowledged the sovereignty of God and God’s mercy on him. God is love and He expresses His Fatherly love to His children by not leaving them or forsaking them (Deuteronomy 31:6). This is something that all Christians need to be reminded of. God is our Heavenly Father who sees all things, is in control of all things, and hears our cries. Through our darkest times, God promises to not neglect us.