Deep Seated Anger
Jonah 4
Being angry or expressing anger isn't necessarily sinful. But the Lord is careful to warn us in Paul's letter to the Ephesians "be angry and do not sin." And if we're honest with ourselves, many of us will conclude that our anger often is accompanied by sin!
Jonah - Lack of Compassion
Jonah 3
Before we get too judgmental in regard to Jonah, let's turn the mirror upon ourselves: How many of us have reacted this way to God giving other people grace and compassion?
This's a big part of the Good News the Lord brings us. Because as we need these attributes of God "continually" in our lives. For starters, we need God's grace — his unmerited favor that we can't earn. Certainly neither Jonah, nor the people of Nineveh, nor US, can do nor could do anything to receive the grace of the Lord.
jonah - poor response to correction
Jonah 2
All of us need correction from time to time — but it's not always easy to receive correction, is it? Humanly speaking, we much prefer to think that we're doing things the right way (or, ahem, OUR way). But sometimes it takes a perspective outside ourselves to let us know we're off course. It can be quite humbling, but receiving correction — and receiving it with gratitude — is necessary.
Jonah - I Need to Vs. I don't want to
Jonah 1
We all have our Ninevehs, don't we? Well, instead of heading as far away from that hostile city as possible, let us recognize that God loves us and then heed his call, no matter how much we don't want to listen and obey. Indeed, we know full well that doing so will result in us being exactly where the Lord wants and doing exactly what he wants us to do. There's nothing better than that!
Jonah - A Life INTERRUPTED
Jonah is so intent on avoiding what God wants him to do — so convinced that he can't step out of his comfort zone — that he'd rather drown!
While our reactions may not rise to that level of drama, we all know what it feels like when our disobedience is reaping bad consequences — and often we end up in worse positions than when the Lord first told us what we needed to do. What's more, as believers we have the Holy Spirit inside us — who can strengthen us to do God's will even when it's difficult — and yet often we board our figurative ships to Tarshish and find ourselves about to drown when a raging storm comes.
