"Full assurance of faith"

"In my distress I called upon the LORD, and he heard me ; From the breast of the grave I cried and heard my voice." Jonah 2: 3 (NEG)

"Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. I knew that you always hear me." John 11. 41, 42

"Let us approach with a true heart, in full assurance of faith." Hebrews 10:22

"Full assurance of faith" : this expression should qualify the measure and character of the faith of the Christians. By the blood of Jesus, they can now approach him without "any conscience of sins" (Heb 10: 2, 22). How much it would be desirable that this "full assurance of faith" should be the motive of every stage of our life, as it was for Jonah, swallowed three days and three nights in the entrails of a fish.

In this place, impossible to imagine and comparable to the abode of the dead, Jonas understands that it was his disobedience that led him there ; He crieth unto the LORD. His expressions of distress reveal that he really saw death in the face; Some even anticipate the sufferings of the Lord before the cross. Nevertheless, from the depths of the abyss and even before being delivered by God, Jonah affirms : "He answered me," "You have heard my voice." He is already fully confident in the mercy of God experienced in the past (2 Kings 14. 26, 27), and he announces the praise he will render to the Lord (Jn.

This manifestation of a full assurance of faith, uttered in the secret of a fish, precedes that of the Lord, which is more glorious in the tomb of Lazarus (second verse of the day). Before he commands "Lazarus, come here outside," Jesus, publicly, and before the crowd, gives thanks to the Father for what he has heard. Then the miracle was accomplished.

"The disciple is not above the master" (Matthew 10:24). The complete assurance of faith of a disobedient prophet can not be compared to that of the Son of the Father. It is nevertheless exemplary. After an urgent prayer that we believe is the will of God, are we really ready to honor him with our faith : "You have heard my voice," adding, "I thank you for what you will answer In your own way and in time" ?

Source (To pleasing the Lord)