The book of Jonah reveals the heart of God in a special way.
Jonah was given the mission of sharing God’s grace with the Ninevites. The prophet Jonah did not want to share God’s grace with the Ninevites because Jonah did not like them. Jonah did not want to see God be kind to someone that He didn’t like, so he ran away in the opposite direction from the mission that God was giving Him!
God miraculously humbled Jonah when He had him swallowed up by a great big fish and delivered Jonah right where he wanted him to be anyhow.
Jonah reluctantly shared a message of repentance and God’s grace to the Ninevites. Jonah was upset that the Ninevites responded to the message and received God’s grace. In response, Jonah told God, “Didn’t I say before I left home that You would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that You are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead…” (Jonah 4:2-3) Wow! That is some deep disappointment and discouragement on Jonah’s part. Aren’t followers of God supposed to be happy when people convert?! Yet Jonah really did not like the fact that God was compassionate, merciful, patient, and unfailing in love towards a people that Jonah did not like, yet God is impartial.
Next, God taught Jonah an important object lesson in the form of a plant. God caused a plant to sprout up that gave Jonah shade from a scorching sun. Jonah loved the plant because it provided him with shade and effected his overall well-being. Then God caused the plant to be eaten by a worm and Jonah was once again very angry. God told Jonah, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” (Jonah 4:10-11). Jonah’s heart was attached to a plant that gave him shade. God’s heart was attached to a people that He loved very much. Jonah’s mood was affected by the loss of this plant, but God’s compassion was stirred by the lostness of a people.
Sadly, we can each have a bit of a Jonah heart at times. We can run from the mission of God. We can be selfish. We can pick and choose who we want to show love and grace to. But the book of Jonah portrays our God as so loving and gracious that it can be offensive to us when God offers forgiveness to those we don’t feel deserve it. The humbling truth is that none of us deserve His forgiveness. Yet God in His great mercy, patience, and unfailing love has compassion on us anyway.
Take a moment to think about someone you might be at odds with. It could be someone that you downright don’t like. Consider that God deeply loves this person and wants them to experience His grace and salvation. Ask God for His heart for the lost and those you consider difficult to love. Our God is a gracious and loving God who desires His followers to have His love in us, even for those we would rather not share it with. This is both the challenging and comforting message of the book of Jonah. May we pursue the ways that we can love others rather than running away.