Once in Deepest Darkness Dreary...

May 18, 2014 

The Book of Jonah: The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord ... 17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 

3:1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” 3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh... 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth... 10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

4:1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry... 4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” ... 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered... 9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.” 10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

Pastor Doug Rorex, District Superintendent, preached a "bedtime story" about Jonah:

Jonah focuses on the things he hates; he is self-centered. But God sends him to Nineveh to exhort Nineveh's people about their sinfulness. Lecturing people is right in Jonah's wheelhouse. But Jonah avoids this mission: he doesn't want the Ninevites to repent; he wants them to burn! Ultimately, Jonah goes to Nineveh. He enjoys preaching destruction, and when the Ninevites repent? What then? He's disgusted and angry with God for being God: just and holy and merciful. But God takes mercy on Jonah while Jonah pouts: shades him with a plant grown especially for his protection! And when God allows the plant to die the next day, Jonah is ticked about that, too! God wants the best for Jonah, but Jonah won't have it. And Jonah is angrier about the plant's demise than about the narrowly-avoided demise of thousands of people in Nineveh--God's children! An object lesson in how not to behave!

---

God wants what is best for all of us, but he cannot help us if we won't take the help! He is always reaching, always and in all ways. Get over yourself and try God's way.

Another thing I took away from this: God can and will use even the smallest-minded, least forgiving of His people. Even Jonah's anger and vengefulness had a place in God's plan: God needed just such an angry man to literally put the fear of God in the Ninevites!! And it worked!  

I admit it: I can be awfully Jonah-like. I'm a "stick"--follow the rules!  no mercy! straighten up! Jonah's story comforts me: if there's a place in God's Kingdom/plan for a complete jerk like Jonah, then there's surely a place for me! But I remind myself: don't be like Jonah!!