Jonah 4:1-2

 

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

Jonah is a minor prophet from the Old Testament.  Much like Joel (Friday's verses), all we really know is that he is a prophet and his dad's name.  🤷 Arguably, the most famous part of the book of Jonah is the whale, right?  God has called Jonah to go to Nineveh , but Jonah is not interested in that plan at all, because the Ninevites were terrible people.   He buys tickets to sail to Tarshish, which is like going to "Timbuktu" today.  The ship runs into a huge storm and, after much discussion, they decide to throw Jonah overboard to appease the "weather gods".  A great fish swallowed Jonah, where he stayed for three days and three nights.  (Jonah 1)  Jonah prayed a beautiful prayer from the belly of the fish, and the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.  (Jonah 2)  Jonah finally obeys after a second call to go to Nineveh.  He called out to anyone who would listen, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"  And these terrible people, the Ninevites, believed God and repented.  (Jonah 3)

Success, right?  Not according to Jonah.  He saw their repentance as a disaster.  He was ticked!!  He actually prays God's words back to Him, but in anger.  He says  "I KNEW this is what you were going to do, this is why I didn't want to come here!  I KNEW you were gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster."  He actually asks God to take his life, rather than witness the Ninevites' salvation.  

 Do I do this??? Do I throw God's words in His face when I don't get my way?  Do I pick and choose what promises I want to believe? In chapter 3, Jonah prays a beautiful truth-- "Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love."  Yet when this people are seemingly willing to abandon their idols, and experience the unwavering, stubborn, single-minded love of the One True God, Jonah resents it.  I pray for these verses to change me.  The grace, mercy, and patience that I love for God to show to me is offered to everyone.  As I look around me at "terrible" people choosing to worship vain idols,  I pray that I want, really want, to see their salvation.  LORD, help me share the hope of steadfast love.