Lessons from Jonah - Part Two

God used Jonah to warn the people of Nineveh of their coming destruction - if they would not repent and turn from their evil ways. Jonah felt in his heart that the people of Nineveh deserved whatever punishment they would get…but when God chose not to punish the Ninevites at all, Jonah felt that He -GOD - was making a mistake! “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” Jonah 3:10 Jonah got angry and said he’d rather die than live (um…pity-party?). The Lord simply asked him, “Do you do well to be angry?” twice (vs. 4, 9). He didn’t argue with Jonah that His way was best, or try to prove that his way was better (it already was - Jonah just had to wake up and realize that)…he let Jonah think it through. When things don’t go our way getting angry is definitely not the answer. Anger does not help us in any way. Our hearts should be humbly submitted to God’s will - understanding that His ways are always true and right (easier said than done, I know), despite what we can see in our limited view that may look like we are going out of control. Often, when looking OUT for our own interests, we forget to look AROUND at God’s glory, and his hands which always hold us up. So, back to Jonah. He went to the edge of the city, and decided to sit and wait to see if God would re-consider and punish the Ninevites. As silly as he was, God still had compassion on him, and made a plant to grow up to shade Jonah ad provide comfort as he sat there. And, just as quickly, God took it away. (vs. 6-7) He the scorching sun to beat down on Jonah and make him faint…and it’s here that Jonah again says he’d rather die than live without the plant that he did nothing to make grow, and yet, he felt that he deserved somehow. In the same way, God can provide times of “shade” from the scorching heat of this world, he can provide comfort amidst the chaos…and he can also take it away (he IS God) and test us - to see how we will react when the heat is turned on. Do we have pity-parties when God takes away that which we think we deserve? Or can we trust that He has a better plan than we could ever dream up on our own? Do we resist his will, or submit to it - even if it doesn’t make complete sense to us? As Job put it, when he was tested in a way that not many people are (he lost pretty much everything except his wife in a short period of time “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ ” Job 1:20-21 Now, we never really are told if Jonah ever “got it” or not…but we can at least learn from this book what perhaps Jonah missed. Oh that we would have the faith of Job to worship God through the trials and times when we can’t understand what He is doing…and trust that God knows best! ~Lady Tai (Next up: Another GUEST POST! Stay tuned.)