“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…You are eager to turn back from destroying people…I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?” – Jonah 4: 2-4

The book of Jonah is very compact, but it’s contents are so incredibly potent.

Jonah refuses to follow God’s call to announce judgment for the great city of Nineveh and get’s thrown in the belly of a whale.

But when he finally goes to Nineveh and makes the announcement, the people unanimously turn from their evil ways and submit to God.

And Jonah gets BIG mad!

In his mind, he thinks, God wasted my time. Why would He tell me to announce destruction to these people if He wasn’t even going to follow through on doing it?

But truth be told, Jonah literally had no business being angry at God for showing mercy to the people of Nineveh when he himself was a beneficiary of the Lord’s mercy.

If it weren’t for God’s forgiveness and compassion, Jonah wouldn’t have ever made it out of that whale alive.

But guess what?

We have the tendency to be like Jonah more often than we’d like to think. 

We judge and think we have the right to condemn folks to hell when we behave in ungodly ways all the time.

We must never forget that even at our best, we’re nothing but a bunch of sinners who are saved only because we believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

And we should always remember that it’s not God’s ultimate desire that anyone would be condemned or destroyed.

His desire is for everyone to turn from evil and draw closer to Him. 

So just like God shows us mercy on a daily basis, we should be eager to extend the same mercy to others.

Be blessed,

Alexia

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for the times I’ve condemned and judged others for their transgressions. I realize that I’m a sinner and I’m not better than a single person on this earth. Fill me up with compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and grace so I can extend to others the love that you extend to me every single day. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.