Today I had another "Ah Ha" moment from the life of Jonah as told by Priscilla Shirer in Life Interrupted. Priscilla pointed out that although Jonah had been spared and had made the journey to Nineveh to tell the people what God was saying, when the people actually listened and God spared them Jonah was mad. Jonah didn't mind that he had been spared by God's grace just a few short days before but now that it was the Ninevites turn to receive grace he didn't like it one bit.
Priscilla likened this to when someone you don't like or you think you have a higher moral fiber or character than has good things happen to them and you don't have good things happening to you at that moment. Jonah most likely was doing what he needed to do in order to have favor while thinking that God would still destroy the Ninevites or not be compassionate towards them. But when the Lord spared them after seeing their repentance Jonah didn't understand it and he through a hissy fit before God. God responded to Jonah by saying, "Do you have good reason to be angry?"
Doesn't He always get us like that. We always feel like we have been done an unimaginable disservice only for God to ask or pose one question that will set us straight. I thought about how over the past couple of years I have at times felt singled out by God. I felt like the hammer of correction was coming down on me while friends, acquaintances, and strangers lived their lives any way they wanted to and got good outcomes. My first feelings would be, "That's not fair! They do this and they do that. They say this and they say that. They go here and they go there. If they can be bad and not get punished why am I being punished!?" I vented my frustration all the time to anyone who would listen. Finally I ran out of people to listen and I was left alone with my thoughts. I finally got the revelation that God is good not based on our meriting His goodness but simply because He is good. I heard a message from my pastor here in Charlotte, Pastor Gool, that talked about how even when people who may not be following after God receive blessings those blessings still come from Him. He wants to be good to everyone. It doesn't mean that He doesn't see their sin or that He condones the things that they do wrong, but He still loves them the same that He loves everyone else including me. So often we just want vindication and judgement to come on people who do us wrong or who seem to be getting away with things. But God is not like that. He sees them in a way that we can't because He loves them and us in spite of our wrongs and faults. I have had some Jonah moments in my life where I have looked up to the sky with a puzzled look on my face as to why God didn't just electrocute the person who just said that mean thing or did that mean thing to me. But God treats them with love and I have to too. It's not easy and it's not always understandable but that's the way it is. Priscilla called this kind of attitude "having God on our own terms." We want mercy and favor and our own plans and causes to be rubber stamped by God but we don't want that for anyone else. And when it seems to us that these things are happening for others especially for people we are envious of, dislike, or who dislike us we can't understand why their lives are working out positively and our lives are working out negatively. There is a simple explanation for why we can't figure it out. God is God and we are not. God knows how the decisions that each of us make will affect our futures, not just now but for the long haul, eternally. God has a kingdom way of functioning while we function on a very temporary basis most of the time. So instead of questioning why other people's lives are working out better than ours we really have to just say, "I know that the good things that are happening to them come from the Lord and that the Lord will take care of me the way that He has taken care of them."
When God inserts Himself into your life plan it does seem like the most unfair and inconvenient thing He could ever do but it's just the opposite. When He inserts Himself into your life I think it means that He sees more for you to do and be capable of than you see in yourself. But in order to use you and for you to be of use to Him, He has to shake you and reveal what's really deep down inside of you, stuff that is surprising and shocking that you probably would be ashamed to admit you think and feel. But He reveals these things to us to make us better and to help us get to where He has for us to go. After having read several accounts of people who have been recruited into serving the Lord, I think that it is quite normal for people to go through these feelings that Jonah had. They feel like they want vindication and validation when God wants for them to have compassion and love, often times for people who are your enemies or who have not treated you well. It's hard to do but it is a lesson in loving people like God loves people. He sees the best in them and He values them and we have to do the same. I think this is the lesson that Jonah learned after God questioned him post-angry outburst.
Priscilla likened this to when someone you don't like or you think you have a higher moral fiber or character than has good things happen to them and you don't have good things happening to you at that moment. Jonah most likely was doing what he needed to do in order to have favor while thinking that God would still destroy the Ninevites or not be compassionate towards them. But when the Lord spared them after seeing their repentance Jonah didn't understand it and he through a hissy fit before God. God responded to Jonah by saying, "Do you have good reason to be angry?"
Doesn't He always get us like that. We always feel like we have been done an unimaginable disservice only for God to ask or pose one question that will set us straight. I thought about how over the past couple of years I have at times felt singled out by God. I felt like the hammer of correction was coming down on me while friends, acquaintances, and strangers lived their lives any way they wanted to and got good outcomes. My first feelings would be, "That's not fair! They do this and they do that. They say this and they say that. They go here and they go there. If they can be bad and not get punished why am I being punished!?" I vented my frustration all the time to anyone who would listen. Finally I ran out of people to listen and I was left alone with my thoughts. I finally got the revelation that God is good not based on our meriting His goodness but simply because He is good. I heard a message from my pastor here in Charlotte, Pastor Gool, that talked about how even when people who may not be following after God receive blessings those blessings still come from Him. He wants to be good to everyone. It doesn't mean that He doesn't see their sin or that He condones the things that they do wrong, but He still loves them the same that He loves everyone else including me. So often we just want vindication and judgement to come on people who do us wrong or who seem to be getting away with things. But God is not like that. He sees them in a way that we can't because He loves them and us in spite of our wrongs and faults. I have had some Jonah moments in my life where I have looked up to the sky with a puzzled look on my face as to why God didn't just electrocute the person who just said that mean thing or did that mean thing to me. But God treats them with love and I have to too. It's not easy and it's not always understandable but that's the way it is. Priscilla called this kind of attitude "having God on our own terms." We want mercy and favor and our own plans and causes to be rubber stamped by God but we don't want that for anyone else. And when it seems to us that these things are happening for others especially for people we are envious of, dislike, or who dislike us we can't understand why their lives are working out positively and our lives are working out negatively. There is a simple explanation for why we can't figure it out. God is God and we are not. God knows how the decisions that each of us make will affect our futures, not just now but for the long haul, eternally. God has a kingdom way of functioning while we function on a very temporary basis most of the time. So instead of questioning why other people's lives are working out better than ours we really have to just say, "I know that the good things that are happening to them come from the Lord and that the Lord will take care of me the way that He has taken care of them."
When God inserts Himself into your life plan it does seem like the most unfair and inconvenient thing He could ever do but it's just the opposite. When He inserts Himself into your life I think it means that He sees more for you to do and be capable of than you see in yourself. But in order to use you and for you to be of use to Him, He has to shake you and reveal what's really deep down inside of you, stuff that is surprising and shocking that you probably would be ashamed to admit you think and feel. But He reveals these things to us to make us better and to help us get to where He has for us to go. After having read several accounts of people who have been recruited into serving the Lord, I think that it is quite normal for people to go through these feelings that Jonah had. They feel like they want vindication and validation when God wants for them to have compassion and love, often times for people who are your enemies or who have not treated you well. It's hard to do but it is a lesson in loving people like God loves people. He sees the best in them and He values them and we have to do the same. I think this is the lesson that Jonah learned after God questioned him post-angry outburst.
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