A Whale & A Tree

It is possible to miss God's perfect will for our lives through carelessness or disobedience.  Zac Poonen

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about Jonah.  If there was ever someone who didn’t want to do what God asked him to it would be Jonah.  Remember how God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and instead Jonah ran in the opposite direction.  He even went so far as to catch a boat to another city.  When God saw Jonah running the other way, He decided to show Jonah how truly powerful He was by having a whale swallow him.  I would hope that after sitting in the belly of a fish for several days thinking about my plight, I would see the error of my ways.

The problem with Jonah is the same one we face today.  We are stubborn and we tend to run the other way when God points us in the direction He wants us to go. 

So the next part of the story we find Jonah on the outskirts of the city of Nineveh. Jonah forgot how God showed grace to him when he was sitting in the belly of the whale. Here we find Jonah frustrated because it has been many days and still the people of Nineveh have not repented of their ways. So Jonah becomes angry with God for the grace He shows to the Ninevites.

We find as the story goes on that God caused a plant to grow to shade Jonah as he sat on the outskirts of town waiting for the people to be destroyed.  Jonah was extremely happy when the tree grew and provided shade, but then God caused a worm to kill the very tree that offered Jonah shade.  Jonah was more like the worm that destroyed the tree.  He wanted to see the destruction of Nineveh, just as the worm destroyed the tree that shaded Jonah from the harsh sun. 

God asks Jonah why he has compassion for a plant that he had no part in growing.  He was trying to teach Jonah a lesson.  His purpose was to teach Jonah about the importance of the people of Nineveh.  Jonah cared more about a tree he didn’t grow than the people God sent Jonah to save. 

What can we learn from Jonah?  Several things come to mind.  The first being, when God tells us to do something; it is in our best interest to comply.  Our disobedience may not result in us being swallowed by a whale, but we see the results of our disobedience every day in some of the trials that come our way.  The second and most important thing we can learn from this is that God is more concerned about the people and we should be too.  That is our purpose in life; to have compassion for others. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, sometimes I do just the opposite of what I know You want me to do.  I become stubborn and dig in my heels because I think I know what is best for me.  When I become headstrong and plow ahead without thought to what You would have me do, I am headed into the belly of a whale (so to speak).  Help me to understand that You want what is best for me.  I can avoid many mistakes in my life if I will listen to You. Remind me that some of the very things that make me fail are the very things that are meant to draw me back to You.       

Scripture: Jonah’s Anger and God’s Kindness

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”

Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”

But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”  Jonah 4:1-11