Identity: Jonah

Jonah is a guy that I have always had a hard time relating to. He runs away from God, begrudgingly returns, then is unhappy with the positive result and mad at a vine. Is this guy a pessimist or what? Within the first five verses of the story, God directs Jonah to go to Nineveh, he runs away and finds passage in the wrong direction and gets caught in a terrible storm. In five verses this guy has already lived more excessively than many of us have over all these years.  

Making mistakes

Jonah blatantly disobeyed the command from God, but he owned up to it and asked to be thrown overboard when he saw that others were suffering from his choices. He cried out to God and spoke the truth of his situation in prayer; clearly recognizing the character of God as He who saves. And indeed, God saved him and sent him to do the work that He intended. God did not send him home to sit and ‘consider his sin’. God did not have him go home and find someone else to do the job. God calls the right person every time.

Many of us have perhaps not outright chosen to go against God, but we don’t know what God wants us to do specifically. I think we can cling to the fact that God corrected the course that Jonah put himself on and He will correct ours as well. A moving boat is easier to redirect than a moored boat. Interestingly Jonah got up and went, he just went the wrong way. And God swooped in a directed him in the right way. That first mistake is not the end of the story, it is only the first or second chapter. As long as we are willing, as Jonah did, to accept that we made the mistake and need to get out of the boat when God makes it clear, then we are sure to do well.

Learn from mistakes

Making mistakes is a part of who we are, we can defeat the sinful mistakes, but not all mistakes are sin. Some mistakes are just mistakes; God can redeem all mistakes. Jonah sat inside a whale, with rotting and decaying fish and probably being eaten alive by digestive juices. He sat in that for three days. That kind of torture must have made it seem like three years, or more! As children of God, he wants to be in communication with us, talking with us. We hear of Jonah’s capitulation in a wonderful prayer (Jonah Ch. 2) but I hope for all of us, we learn Jonah’s lesson and submit to God before we are in such pain. It is not humiliating to kneel before God, our Father. When we are weak, He is strong (2 Cor 12:9-10). When I stumble, God will pick me up (Prov 24:16). God doesn’t send us back to start like a game of ‘Sorry’, He sets us on our feet and He accompanies us along the way.

Self-defeating attitude

Jonah though highlights that we have a role in the direction we go and the attitude we take. I don’t even like the story because Jonah is so negative in these interactions. We have another who is not consistent, like Gideon. Jonah says no to obedience, then shouts from the whale in acceptance of his role, knowing that God will win. Then he pouts again when indeed God wins, and the people of Nineveh repent. Then he is happy about the shade vine and then pouting again when it is eaten. Pouting, praising, pouting, happy, pouting. The self-defeating attitude is enough to drive me batty! But in response, God speaks of His sovereignty and love. Again, the answer is ‘I AM is enough.’ God is the one to trust and know that the end result is good, the saving of 120,000 lives in 40 days is nothing short of good. Jonah doesn’t see that God has called and made him to be a beloved instrument; in the end he sees only that he does not get what he wants. God has done great things through Jonah, but Jonah wants something else.

God loves us all, even in our sin

The book of Jonah is one that shouts from the rooftops how much God loves us. When the whole city was wicked, still God wanted to save them. Even in our sin and the deep pit, Jonah says, when we call God answers. He hears, he loves us so much that he rushes in with salvation. He provides refreshing shade in the heat and scorching wind. God has made us to be a beloved instrument for Him.

‘What instrument?’ you ask. We are addressing purpose, starting Wednesday!