Are You A Jonah?

We all know the story of Jonah right?  God tells this prophet to go to Nineveh and preach against their wickedness.  Jonah hops on a ship sailing as far away from Nineveh as he can get. (Shouldn't this prophet know you can hide from God?) God sends a storm, Jonah gets tossed overboard, a big fish swallows him up,  Jonah prays and repents, big fish spits him on the sand (my version says vomit - yuck), and Jonah goes to Nineveh. He obeys the Lord preaches against their wickedness.  The people change their ways and repent and God relented and did not destroy Nineveh.  Great right?  How many people get to do God's work and see the fruit that quickly?  Was Jonah jumping up and down with joy? Nope!  This is the part of the story we don't tell.  Jonah and the whale a beloved children's bible story minus the ending.  Jonah is angry, frustrated, ill headed.  He thought this was very wrong.  He tells God about it - see I could have just stayed home - I knew this is what you would do. Verse 2 - "I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."  That sounds like jumping up and down for joy words to me.  What does Jonah say in verse 3 "Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." Whhaatt? Where is chapter 2 praying, repenting Jonah inside the whale?

Why did God put this story on my heart - I really don't know why.  But the last month has been a tough one.  Once you hit 50 the people you love start dying - I've had 3 now in a month.  Two nights ago I said good bye to a wonderful woman who I considered my 2nd mom.  As I tried to fall asleep that night (who are we kidding I didn't sleep much), this story of Jonah kept coming to my mind.

Am I a Jonah?  Are you?  Do we disregard another's life because we think they deserve less than God has afforded them?  Are they different than us - color, wealth, beliefs, life style, etc.  Or can it be even more trivial - we find them annoying, conceited, a know it all, pretty, ugly, etc.  If the love of Jesus is inside us - how then can we not love others - all others?  Cause I'm here to tell you - I am way different than Jesus.  Why don't we have more compassion for others, especially others that are lost?

Life is a precious gift from God.  We should share our love for the Lord with everyone.  When is the last time you told someone about the Lord Jesus Christ?  Invited someone to church?  Took someone a meal or a coffee?  (That's a christian woman's right of passage fixing food).  Seriously life is too short and too hard to hate other people just because they are different or annoying or they didn't choose the path we think is best.  Forgiveness, that's the key.  I'm so glad Jonah called God out like he is - that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.  Oh Lord pour that into our souls so we can be more like you and less like us.