The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

Category: Jonah

March 29, 2015

Lent Devotional: Jonah 4:5-11

Jonah 4:5-11 (click here)
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.” 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. 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 4:9-11)

Reflection
Jonah has set himself up. He has trapped himself with his own words.

He was angry over a plant that the Lord had graciously provided to him for some shade and relief from the sun. The plant lasted all of 24 hours and Jonah’s praise died with the plant.

Yet…Jonah insists that he has every right to be angry over the plant! It was important and valuable to him. He pities the plant…he has compassion on it. It doesn’t matter that he didn’t create it, sustain it, or even know it for very long…he has the right to be passionate about this plant.

And now God turns the tables.

If Jonah thinks he has the right to be passionate over this plant, how much more so does God have the right to be passionate about 120,000 people whom he did create, he does sustain, and who he has known since before they were born! Are they not more valuable than a single plant. God even gets sarcastic…if Jonah can’t see these people as valuable he must at least be willing to admit that so many cows are worth more than one plant!

Jonah looks silly, pitying a plant while wanting people to perish.

This must be how we look, when we get upset over small broken comforts…a broken picture frame, a busted A/C, or a flat tire. Oh the injustice of it all! We care deeply about these little things…all the while we care little for so many people. We have a “Nineveh” in our life that we wouldn’t mind seeing perishing…but to see our comforts perish…that is a crime!

God’s question to Jonah hangs in the air… “Should I not pity Nineveh?” We don’t get Jonah’s answer…because Jonah’s answer isn’t the point. The point is how will we answer the question? We are supposed to finish the story.

Should God pity our Nineveh? Will we embrace his amazing grace…or be angered by it?

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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March 22, 2015

Lent Devotional: Jonah 4:1-4

Jonah 4:1-4 (click here)
And the LORD said [to Jonah], “Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4)

Reflection
Do we do well to be angry with God?

Is it right or good to be angry with him? The short answer is no. It’s not right to for us to be angry with God because he is never in the wrong! He never sins, he never makes mistakes…there is never actually a justifiable reason to be angry with the Lord.

Of course this doesn’t mean that we won’t experience anger with the Lord…and whenever we do we should be honest with the Lord about it. We should never try to stuff down our feelings and pretend like everything is okay.

It is a sin to be inauthentic with God.

We must be honest when we are angry with the Lord, but that doesn’t make our anger at him right. Jonah was angry because God had shown grace to people whom Jonah didn’t think deserved it. There is no question that Jonah was in the wrong. It was not right for him to be angry with God.

It also was not good for him to be angry with the Lord. Jonah’s anger was only bringing about destruction. It was destroying his relationship with the Lord and, ultimately, it was destroying Jonah himself.

Jonah’s desire to see Nineveh destroyed was causing him to self-destruct. This is what un-forgiveness, bitterness, and anger do…they always bring about the destruction of the one who is harboring these things in his/her heart.

Desiring the destruction of others ALWAYS brings about self-destruction.

It is not good…it is not right…we do not do well to be angry with God.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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March 15, 2015

Lent Devotional: Jonah 3:5-10

Jonah 3:5-10 (click here)
Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:8b-10)

Reflection
All are called to repent by a God who lovingly relents.

God is not required to forgive us.

Repentance is not a quarter that we insert into the divine vending machine in order to purchase the forgiveness we’d like to receive. That’s not how repentance works.

Repentance does not force God to do anything. It does not earn or purchase our forgiveness from God. No. Repentance is the God given means by which we receive the forgiveness that he has purchased!

God forgives because he is simply that kind of God! He is loving and merciful and kind. He is not required to forgive a sinful people…even if they repent! The fact that he does so just reveals his merciful heart.

Think of all the mercy we see in Jonah 3. God shows mercy to Jonah by giving him a second chance to repent and obey. God shows mercy to Nineveh by sending them a prophetic warning concerning the consequences of their sin (he didn’t even have to do that). God shows mercy again to Nineveh by relenting of his wrath and extending grace!

Mercy upon mercy upon mercy…grace upon grace upon grace. And God is this way toward you and me. It doesn’t matter if you are like Jonah and you have hardened your heart toward the Lord, or if you are like Nineveh, completely unaware of the Lord and just living a life of self-centered, sinful indulgence…either way, Jonah 3 declares to us that God is merciful toward us all!

We are all called to repent…to turn from ourselves and turn to the Lord. Will you repent? I’m not asking if you think it is possible, if you think you need to, or if you think you are too far gone… I’m just asking if you are willing to repent. Do you have a heart that longs to turn from trusting in yourself to trusting in the Lord.

No matter who you are…Nineveh or Jonah…God is a God of grace and will lovingly extend his grace EVEN to me and even to you.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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