There are more nuggets of wisdom from the book of Jonah…
Some people don’t think about God until they become angry, disappointed or discouraged. It’s then that they become too eager to blame Him for their troubles. While Jonah was angrily running away from God, he was swallowed up by a great fish. I think we should take a look at some of the words Jonah prayed from inside the fish. Jonah’s prayer starts in chapter 2…
“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help… Verse 1
The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. Verse 5
To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God. Verse 6
When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple… Verse 7
But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord.” Verse 9
Don’t we sometimes act the same way? When life seems to be going well, we tend to take God for granted. When things go sour, like they did for Jonah…we cry out to Him. We don’t have to be rocket scientists to figure out that this is the reason why many of us have an inconsistent, up and down spiritual life
Obviously Jonah wasn’t in a position to bargain with God. Verse 9 tells us that he thanked God for saving his life. Our troubles and adversities should make us want to cling tighter to the One who can save us – not bargain our way out of the pain
The next thing we’ll talk about from the book of Jonah, is Jonah’s anger at God’s compassion…