Dericka Canada Cunningham, GBW Founder
May 29, 2023
This Week's Anchor
“When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.”
Jonah 2: 7 (NIV)
Have you ever been on a Jonah journey—finding yourself hurling into the deep, sinking into darkness, and left in a pit of loneliness and isolation? Our anchor scripture this week points us to the story of Jonah. A story of a stubborn man who attempted to run away from God’s calling and because of it, landed in the belly of a fish at the bottom of the sea. Maybe you can relate to all or at least part of Jonah’s story. Even when we do things seemingly “right” we can find ourselves in dark and difficult moments of our lives.
These moments can be understandably challenging to navigate. Yet, the testimony of Jonah can inspire us. Reluctant though he was, when Jonah’s life was “ebbing away”, he found freedom from his situation by remembering God. As Jonah remembered, his “prayer rose to” God, and God heard Jonah and delivered him from the depths of the sea. Simply put, there is power in remembering. We don’t get the details of what Jonah remembered, but I imagine he recalled who God is and the power that He holds to handle his circumstance.
Dating back to my graduate program, I can recall a time in my life that felt like Jonah’s experience. Most psychology doctoral candidates spend their final year training in a full-time clinical or research internship site that is mysteriously chosen by an algorithmic match process. As I approached the end of my doctoral studies, this process afforded me the opportunity to train at one of my top sites. I set forth on my internship journey bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed, ready to experience a new city and learn within a new context. Little did I know that year would be one of the most difficult years of my life. The racial-cultural dynamics and systemic barriers at my site left me exhausted. In addition to this, I was under significant spiritual attack and didn’t even realize it until halfway through the internship year. By the time I made it into month seven, I was overwhelmed, isolated, and depleted.
Yet, there was one moment that changed it all. Because of the impact of the endured stress on my mind, body, and soul, I reconnected with a consistent mindfulness and meditation practice. One night, as I lay down to engage in one of my usual nighttime meditations on my Calm app, I became intrigued by the sleep story topic for that evening—Gratitude. The story began by having me visualize myself walking to the beach at night (I was already sold because I am an avid beach lover). The story then invited me into a space of deep appreciation—for the calm of the beach; the ability to slow down and pause; and for breathing and existing in that moment. From this point, the narrator took me on a journey of identifying everything, big and small to be grateful for. Just ten minutes in and the stream of warm tears flowed down my cheeks—thankful tears to God for alllll of the things I had in my life and throughout my life that I was forgetting during this season of struggle. I quickly transitioned from feeling overwhelmed with concern and worry to being overcome with gratefulness. Gratitude rushed over me like a welcomed ocean wave, and by the end of the story, I felt at peace and free. Remembering everything in my life that I had to be grateful for grounded me, and this anchor of remembrance along with the Holy Trinity’s presence carried me through the rest of that training year.
In moments when we feel deserted like Jonah or lost like me during my internship year, we can remember everything about God. How can we intentionally engage in remembering?
Pause—Be deliberate in creating moments where you slow down your life and the busyness of your mind. Find those people, spaces, and places that help you rest and reflect.
Look Back—Recall what God has done for you and how He has shown up in your life (this includes all things big and small).
Look Within—Recognize how God has grown and changed you. Believe it or not, you have evolved and healed and are evolving and healing.
Look Around—Observe what God has done for those we love. When those closest to us are blessed, we are blessed. Also, consider what could have happened that didn’t and what could be that isn’t.
Look Ahead—Believe in who God eternally is and what He can and will do in your future. God’s promises are for yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and they have no expiration date.
I want to acknowledge the person who is reading this devotion and thinking, “But I just can’t remember right now.” Gratitude can be hard to connect with when we are deeply suffering or when we are without basic needs. In these moments I encourage you that remembering God goes beyond being thankful for things. It more deeply involves honoring who God is and has been to us and at the least acknowledging His sustaining power.
Remembering through gratitude won’t make our problems disappear, but I guarantee it will preserve us. He’s sustained us before—alongside our mothers, our grandmothers, and our ancestors. Therefore, He will sustain us again and again and again. Let us call ourselves in this week to pause and remember the perfect Power, predestined Purpose, unyielding Provision, and everlasting Presence of the Holy Trinity. May gratitude ground each of us this week!
Reflection
What resonates for you about this scripture and/or this devotion?
What are you most grateful for this week? How can you intentionally and consistently remember God’s promises and provision (past, present, and future)?
What intention(s) do you want to set to connect and/or reconnect with being grounded this week?
Related Scriptures to Ground You Through this Week
Deuteronomy 6:12; 8:2; 32:4
Jonah 2:1-10
Psalms 105:1-5
Psalms 143:5
John 14:26
1 John 4:16
Hebrews 11:1
My Through-the-Week Reflection Guide
A Song of Inspiration
Quote of Love & Liberation
“You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious
and hope can take on a life of its own."
Michelle Obama
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