Goodwill -Jan 2003

Almost everyone has heard the story of Jonah and the whale. It is one of the most referenced stories in the Old Testament. Within the short book of Jonah there are many lessons. The story of Jonah being swallowed by the whale is proceeded by several great lessons about rebellion against God, failure to escape God’s call, and God’s resolution on about what He has planned for you, just to mention a few. After the episode of the whale swallowing Jonah and Jonah being deposited on the shore you find lessons of a sinner (Jonah) being completed restored to a point of usefulness, the signature of a truly repentant heart (the King of Nineveh and the people of Nineveh), the forgiving heart of God, and the reaction of an angry believer - again the rebellious heart of Jonah.

A portion of Jonah that has always held a great lesson for me is the scripture found in Jonah 4:5-11.

Jonah 4:5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."

Jonah 4:9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"
"I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die."

Jonah 4:10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

How many times do we get angry when something or someone that makes us happy is removed from our lives. The answer is almost every time. What we must realize is that we rarely are involved in developing the things, the people, or the groups that make us happy. Typically, we are just reaping the benefits of God’s blessings, and the benefits of others labor. We seem to have the expectation that once we find something we like that we have the right to assume that God will never remove it from us. These could be jobs, friends, relationships, churches, support ministries, hobbies, or anything else we enjoy. These things become comfortable and we are happy there, we desire no more then what we have and we no longer want to step out and risk anything for God.

We love our comfort zones. Many times we find them during or after a very trying and stressful time in our lives. It seems that the human mind and our personal nature likes the idea of not risking anymore once we are safe. We may only have completed part of the journey or task that is required, but we have reached a safe place and we want to remain there in comfort. Sometimes God has to remove our safety zone or zones to get us to move on toward what He has planned for us in the future.

Jonah, now safely away from the city, and after complaining to God about God’s forgiveness of Nineveh and God’s removal of judgment upon Nineveh’s people, finds a comfortable place to rest before continuing on his journey. He is really more concerned about himself, his personal comfort, and the fact that his word - Jonah’s personal word - (that God’s would judge and destroy Nineveh) - would not be completed, than he was about the fact that 120,000+ souls in Nineveh had been spared. The vine that shaded him was placed by God and removed by God, yet Jonah acted as if he personally had tended it, and cared for it. Once he enjoyed its shade he felt personally entitled to it forever. Again a selfish viewpoint upon God’s blessings.

We can easily say, well I have never seen a miracle like Jonah, and if I did I would not react like he did. Jonah was just an example of a angry servant, and a believer that lacks faith. But God says that all good things come from Him,

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

And Romans 8:28 tells us about how God’s will is always working for us and His will and direction for us is always beneficial for our future.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose

And in 2 Corinthians, chapter 9, the Bible tells us that God’s grace is working for our successes as well, not our failure and disgrace.

2 Cor 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Our problems and frustration with God always begin with our own sin, not without how much or how little God gives us. God promised us that He would provide ALL that we needed, we either believe that or we do not. How we live and how we react to the challenges of life, shows the world what we really believe, regardless of what we say with our mouth, or what we have in our house, on our desk, or on our wrist, or on the back of our car. Sometimes it may be the sin of vanity ,or pride, or maybe social acceptance over God’s direction, but it always begins with US, not Him.

Eventually, if we do not repent, we move to a point of being so frustrated and angry with God that we are willing to do irrational acts and we begin making irrational statements, like we see Jonah doing when the vine dies. An important thing to remember in this process is that we can stop the personal slide toward frustration and anger with God at anytime with repentance. Typically, true repentance involves us stopping our “ work ”, our activities, and our life and spending some quality time with God. First we have to step back from the situation, cool off and see it for what it really is. Then we must pray with our entire heart for God’s direction, instead of praying for God’s direction with a small portion of our heart, and using the rest of our heart to pray for our own selfish desires, which most people typically do.

If we repent, we will begin to move back toward God. As we do, we may begin to see why God did what He did, or allowed to happen what He allowed to happen. Most likely, however, we will never fully understand why things happen to us, for we can not fully understand the heart of God, but this act of repentance and this movement back towards God will move us from a place of frustration and angry to a place of rest and comfort. The irony is that this desire for comfort is what sparked our sin to begin within. The real lesson found in Jonah 4 is not that God makes us suffer to teach us a lesson, it is that He knows what He is doing, why He is doing it, and we must trust Him enough to not get so frustrated and angry that we become irrational and say things like “I am angry enough to die”. This is also a great lesson in the power of unanswered prayer, but I will not begin that conversation today.

Let God Be God, and Be the person that God calls you to be. If you do that, you will never suffer more then you can handle and you will rejoice in the comfort and pleasures of God’s protection.

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	Almost everyone has heard the story of Jonah and the whale. It is one of the most referenced stories in the Old Testament. Within the short book of Jonah there are many lessons. The story of Jonah being swallowed by the whale is proceeded by several great lessons about rebellion against God, failure to escape God’s call, and God’s resolution on about what He has planned for you, just to mention a few. After the episode of the whale swallowing Jonah and Jonah being deposited on the shore you find lessons of a sinner (Jonah) being completed restored to a point of usefulness, the signature of a truly repentant heart (the King of Nineveh and the people of Nineveh), the forgiving heart of God, and the reaction of an angry believer - again the rebellious heart of Jonah. A portion of Jonah that has always held a great lesson for me is the scripture found in Jonah 4:5-11. Jonah 4:5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live." Jonah 4:9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die." Jonah 4:10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" How many times do we get angry when something or someone that makes us happy is removed from our lives. The answer is almost every time. What we must realize is that we rarely are involved in developing the things, the people, or the groups that make us happy. Typically, we are just reaping the benefits of God’s blessings, and the benefits of others labor. We seem to have the expectation that once we find something we like that we have the right to assume that God will never remove it from us. These could be jobs, friends, relationships, churches, support ministries, hobbies, or anything else we enjoy. These things become comfortable and we are happy there, we desire no more then what we have and we no longer want to step out and risk anything for God. We love our comfort zones. Many times we find them during or after a very trying and stressful time in our lives. It seems that the human mind and our personal nature likes the idea of not risking anymore once we are safe. We may only have completed part of the journey or task that is required, but we have reached a safe place and we want to remain there in comfort. Sometimes God has to remove our safety zone or zones to get us to move on toward what He has planned for us in the future. Jonah, now safely away from the city, and after complaining to God about God’s forgiveness of Nineveh and God’s removal of judgment upon Nineveh’s people, finds a comfortable place to rest before continuing on his journey. He is really more concerned about himself, his personal comfort, and the fact that his word - Jonah’s personal word - (that God’s would judge and destroy Nineveh) - would not be completed, than he was about the fact that 120,000+ souls in Nineveh had been spared. The vine that shaded him was placed by God and removed by God, yet Jonah acted as if he personally had tended it, and cared for it. Once he enjoyed its shade he felt personally entitled to it forever. Again a selfish viewpoint upon God’s blessings. We can easily say, well I have never seen a miracle like Jonah, and if I did I would not react like he did. Jonah was just an example of a angry servant, and a believer that lacks faith. But God says that all good things come from Him, James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. And Romans 8:28 tells us about how God’s will is always working for us and His will and direction for us is always beneficial for our future. Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose And in 2 Corinthians, chapter 9, the Bible tells us that God’s grace is working for our successes as well, not our failure and disgrace. 2 Cor 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Our problems and frustration with God always begin with our own sin, not without how much or how little God gives us. God promised us that He would provide ALL that we needed, we either believe that or we do not. How we live and how we react to the challenges of life, shows the world what we really believe, regardless of what we say with our mouth, or what we have in our house, on our desk, or on our wrist, or on the back of our car. Sometimes it may be the sin of vanity ,or pride, or maybe social acceptance over God’s direction, but it always begins with US, not Him. Eventually, if we do not repent, we move to a point of being so frustrated and angry with God that we are willing to do irrational acts and we begin making irrational statements, like we see Jonah doing when the vine dies. An important thing to remember in this process is that we can stop the personal slide toward frustration and anger with God at anytime with repentance. Typically, true repentance involves us stopping our “ work ”, our activities, and our life and spending some quality time with God. First we have to step back from the situation, cool off and see it for what it really is. Then we must pray with our entire heart for God’s direction, instead of praying for God’s direction with a small portion of our heart, and using the rest of our heart to pray for our own selfish desires, which most people typically do. If we repent, we will begin to move back toward God. As we do, we may begin to see why God did what He did, or allowed to happen what He allowed to happen. Most likely, however, we will never fully understand why things happen to us, for we can not fully understand the heart of God, but this act of repentance and this movement back towards God will move us from a place of frustration and angry to a place of rest and comfort. The irony is that this desire for comfort is what sparked our sin to begin within. The real lesson found in Jonah 4 is not that God makes us suffer to teach us a lesson, it is that He knows what He is doing, why He is doing it, and we must trust Him enough to not get so frustrated and angry that we become irrational and say things like “I am angry enough to die”. This is also a great lesson in the power of unanswered prayer, but I will not begin that conversation today. Let God Be God, and Be the person that God calls you to be. If you do that, you will never suffer more then you can handle and you will rejoice in the comfort and pleasures of God’s protection.