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Jonah 4:1-5
Jonah 4:1-5
The story of Jonah doesn’t end with a nice pretty bow. Jonah did not love the people that God loved. He tried to run from what God asked of him. God turned Him around, and ultimately he proclaimed the truth to the people, that God would destroy Nineveh if they kept on in their ways. The people received the truth, repented, and God showed mercy.
And in the end, this royally ticked off Jonah. “See God, this is why I didn’t want to go, because I knew you would end up having mercy on them.”
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 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. 3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?” 5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.
Jonah 4:1-5
Like a pouting kid, crying out “its not fair!” Jonah ends up hiking out of the city. He set up a tent, asked God to take His life from him and then sits there waiting to see who God would destroy: “It’s me or that city, Lord.”
And it’s there that we leave Him. No resolution. No change of heart.
God showed Him mercy. God showed him Grace. But Jonah could not understand why the other people got grace too. Somehow he still believed they didn’t deserve it.
Have you every experienced God’s mercy and then got frustrated when another person received His grace too? God’s mercy is the most amazing thing when it is directed at us. But when it is directed at the people that we believe have done us harm… then it seems incredibly unfair.
One sacrifice for all.
Friend. Jesus died for you. He died so that your punishment for sin (death) would be taken away. But the person that did you wrong, the person that stole from you or gossiped about you, the person that harmed your family – Jesus died for them too. His once sacrifice paid the debt for ALL of us. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us…”
Now, we could pout about that like Jonah did. God did comfort Jonah and show Him Mercy even as He pouted. But, the better thing would be to recognize and thank God for the forgiveness that He gives to you and to the other person too.
As you consider this scripture and reflect this week, respond to the following questions:
1. Is there someone in your life that you need to thank God for His forgiveness for them?
2. Read John 12:26. What is one step you can take in following Jesus into radical forgiveness?