Daily PresenceSample

Everyone knows about Jonah and the whale (or great fish). Even non-Christians know that Jonah didn’t obey the Lord and he spent 3 days in the belly of a great fish, which in turn helped him to decide to go and obey the Lord. Go a bit further and we read that Nineveh decided to repent and was saved. But it’s the end of the story that captures me. Jonah goes and decides to watch and see if the Lord will really bring down Nineveh. Once he realizes that God is not going to destroy Nineveh, he becomes upset. In fact, Jonah says that the whole reason he didn’t want to go to Nineveh in the first place was that he knew God would not destroy them. He didn’t disobey because he was scared. He didn’t disobey because it was a difficult road. He says he disobeyed because he knew God would show them mercy. Jonah seems to think Nineveh deserves God’s judgment. That feeling made Jonah run from God, and Jonah is still dealing with it. He even seems angrier that his plant dies and that he loses his shade than at the possible fate of the city. Jonah should have viewed the impending doom of Nineveh in heartbreaking fashion. We often want to tell people that they better repent of their wrongdoing. We see things in our culture that clearly are against God’s word and we can feel the offense in our minds and hearts. Yet, do we see them as people who need grace and mercy or as people who need to be held accountable? Is it possible that sometimes we hope that those who flaunt God get what they deserve? Do we see a modern Sodom and Gomorrah and almost feel disappointed that it is still standing? Can I pray and hope that God would save my enemy with the same hope and anxiousness as saving my family members? If we want to be like God, we must see and accept that there are consequences of sin, but we must also feel His same desire to see them saved. We must ask the question: do we want God to be merciful for the sake of souls or for the sake of making people agree with us and be more like us?