The Lord has really been showing me things that I have missed in stories from the Bible that I thought I knew so well. Here are five things that I learned from the book of Jonah...
1. Jonah did not disobey God by not going to Nineveh because he was scared, but rather because he didn't believe that they deserved God's mercy and grace.
What a bold thing to think..yet how often have I been guilty of the same thing? Maybe in my actions or even just my thoughts toward someone close to me or even an offensive stranger.
2. When Jonah disobeyed God, he stepped outside of His blessings, thus he was swallowed by a whale. Yet, before Jonah was tossed out into the sea, the fellow sailors avoided throwing him out into the sea despite knowing that he was the reason for their troubles in the middle of a mighty storm. What an incredible example of grace that they themselves showed.
3. Even though Jonah had to suffer negative consequences for his choices, God still used it for good by allowing it to show the unsaved sailors the mightiness of God.
4. God continued to push Jonah to do His work because He loved the Ninevites too much to let Jonah fail; what a powerful thought.
5. However, once Jonah repented and carried out God's plan to alert the Ninevites of God's commands, he STILL was angry that God had showed grace to them! Yet God did not give up on Jonah either; He continued to show Jonah compassion despite his continuous complaints.
What a story of God's unfailing and relentless grace and mercy! Despite our shortcomings, God is still pursuing us and wishing to offer us grace and mercy as well. May we all be willing to provide as much grace and mercy to others despite their wrongdoings and still relentlessly pursue those as God has us.
