The Wednesday Word 9.27.2023

Jonah 4:1-11 NLT

New Living Translation

This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the LORD about it: “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. 3 Just kill me now, LORD! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” 4 The LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?” 5 Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 And the LORD God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. 7 But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. 8 And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed. 9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!” 10 Then the LORD said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. 11 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?”

 

Every once in a while we need to be humbled, really humbled. Every once in a while we need to be reminded that “this is my Father’s world,” as the old hymn tells us. It is all a matter of our attitude. When we stop seeing everything around us from our own incredibly myopic perspective, we can begin to see from the Lord’s point of view. Jonah was irate that he had endured the terrible ordeal of being cast overboard and swallowed by the whale (his own fault for defying the Lord to begin with)and then traveled so far to a people he loathed to warn them of their imminent destruction. To top it all off, the people took heed of his message and repented en masse. From where Jonah sat, the whole mission was an enormous waste of time that made him look like a fool. God was going to do what he wanted anyway. Well, surprise! God will always do exactly what he has planned. With or without us. It is only by changing our perspective and losing our old attitudes that we can begin to see God’s plan for our lives. We may never get to see the big picture in this lifetime and the part we play may well have more consequences than we could ever know. It is time to find out what God may have in store for you…something to pray about. 

 

Don’t forget to look for the Lord today. Vicki H. 


                                                                                                photo by Jon Tyson, Unsplash

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