When You Hit Rock Bottom

St. Charles | Bob Ingle
July 5, 2026

Jonah 2:1-3

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 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. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your breakers and your waves passed over me.” Jonah 2:1-3 (ESV)

* Rock Bottom Becomes a Place of Grace When It…

1. REMOVES EVERY OTHER OPTION.

"THEN Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish." Jonah 2:1 (ESV)

Rock bottom isn't God's way of GIVING UP on you; it's God's way of GETTING THROUGH to you.

“For we do not want you to be unaware…of the affliction we experienced…for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (ESV)

“Apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 (ESV)

* Rock Bottom Becomes a Place of Grace When It…

2. REFOCUSES YOUR ATTENTION.

"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 2:2 (ESV)

“Before I was afflicted I went astray… It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” Psalm 119:67a, 71 (ESV)

Whatever has your ATTENTION eventually shapes your AFFECTION.

* Rock Bottom Becomes a Place of Grace When It…

3. REVEALS GOD’S COMPASSION.

“For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your breakers and your waves passed over me.” Jonah 2:3 (ESV)

“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” Hebrews 12:6 (ESV)

Sometimes the thing you think is RUINING your life is the very thing God is using to RESCUE it.