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.
6 Now the Lord God appointed a plantand made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” ~ Jonah 4:1-11
This amazes me that Jonah both fled and disobeyed God, and didn’t feel he would be punished, yet he wants the people of Nineveh to perish, he wants them to be punished but not him. He then goes on to say he is so angry that he would rather die than live because he didn’t want to see an entire race or nation of people be saved from destruction.
Then when he is uncomfortable, because God took away the plant, he would rather die than live. He is mad God killed the plant, but mad he wouldn’t kill the entire city of people, the entire city of souls… He would rather them go out into eternity unready than to have another chance? If these are the people God chooses to be His prophets and representatives of Him, it makes me feel like okay maybe I can be saved. Maybe I can stand as a representative of God and not feel ashamed of all of the stuff I have done.
It shows me who God really is. That God is truly a God of mercy, patience, love, and forgiveness; not a God of anger, vengeance, and hate as the world tries to make Him out to be. Sure, He punishes His children, but every GOOD parent punishes their child when they have done something wrong. Keep this in mind, when you feel too far gone or too dirty to be clean remember that God doesn’t choose people who are clean and perfect.
God chooses people who are dirty and are in need of cleansing. People who are in need of Him. Look at who He chose to be His prophet, a man that would rather save the life a simple, soulless tree than a city of people who had strayed because he didn’t have the same love and mercy God does. Jonah wasn’t perfect, and neither are you, so let God be the perfect one in the relationship. Let God slowly wash you clean until you see yourself the way he sees you, as His.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Go Dirty.
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