The Jonah Complex, Part 2

Last Wednesday, we talked about Jonah running from his calling. If you missed that post, you can find it here. In the meantime, let's continue the conversation about Jonah by looking at the end of the book.

I'll be honest. The last chapter of Jonah has always sort of bothered me. Because, really, I thought it seemed kind of mean that God would cause a vine to grow for Jonah's provision and then take that vine away. And also, this sort of scared me. If God took the vine away because He was frustrated with Jonah, what was to keep Him from taking away the "vines" in my life when I did something displeasing? Seemed a little cruel.

But I think that reading of chapter four is completely wrong. Because the chapter is fairly short, I'm going to go ahead and copy the entire thing below.


But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
But the Lord replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”
Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city.
 Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?”
“I do,” he said. “I am angry enough to die.”
But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

I love God's response here whenever Jonah is getting frustrated about God's compassion. "Do you have any right to be angry?" And doesn't the answer seem obvious to us? Um, Jonah, God just saved you from inside of a whale. Maybe you should be a little more grateful. But isn't it just like human nature to point to finger at someone else and say, "Hey, you shouldn't be forgiving them so easily. Look what they've put me through!"

So God causes this vine to grow about Jonah, and Jonah becomes very fond of it. Then God causes the vine to die, and Jonah becomes frustrated at God. He says it'd be better if he could just die. Seems like an over-exaggeration, right? Considering, once again, he did almost die just a few days prior?

But the thing is, Jonah is really very attached to this vine. He doesn't want to witness its destruction. The vine matters to him. The vine serves a very important purpose. So when the worm destroys it, Jonah becomes very, very upset.

Then God does a very interesting thing. He makes a connection between that vine and the people of Nineveh. He asks a couple questions. Has Jonah tended to the vine? No. Has Jonah made it grow? Again, no. And yet Jonah seems to care so much.

How much more, then, does God care about Nineveh?

That's when it hit me. Jonah is a story of God's compassion. Not His wrath, or His judgement, or His intolerance for evil. He could've wiped out all of Nineveh in one breath for their wickedness. But instead, He cares about them so very much, He does whatever it takes to send them a message of hope, a message of the gospel, a message of redemption--even when it involves a stubborn Christian and a whale.

God is so gracious to us. Whether you feel like Nineveh or Jonah, remember that God isn't taking your vine. He's trying to get you to see the incredible heart He has, the incredible value He places on each person who is hurting and looking for truth in their lives. May we keep this at the forefront of our minds as we write each day and as we live our lives, that we may begin to see the Ninevites as dearly loved.

You are: Loved

Last week, we talked about seeing ourselves as God views us, as the people He has called us to be. Today I want to break that down a little bit and ask, "What does that actually look like?"

As I was thinking about what I wanted to blog about this week, a concept came to mind, and I really believe someone reading this needs to hear it today, so I hope it ministers to you. The concept is this: God loves you. I mean, really loves you.

Check out what Isaiah 43:4 says... "Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you".

The rest of the chapter is definitely worth reading, but for now, let's just break down those adjectives that are used in this verse to describe God's people. Precious. Honored. Loved.


But do we really live with this perspective? How often do we walk around as if instead, the adjectives over our heads are common, guilty, sinful? Has Christ not paid our ransom once and for all and called us His own?

I think that when you've been around church for a long time, you begin picking up a sense of false guilt, which is unfortunate. You start putting unrealistic goals on yourself, and then feel awful when you don't measure up. I didn't read my Bible for thirty minutes, and then pretty soon, we don't read our Bibles at all. I am preaching to the choir, by the way, when I say that. I'm not focused enough during worship, and then pretty soon, worship becomes another Sunday chore. Little by little, we take the gifts of God in our lives and adopt a false sense of guilt toward them. Instead of picking up these gifts, we leave them at the altar, and we pick up the very chains God has freed us from.

Remember what God has called you? Precious. Honored. Loved.

How would our mindset and actions change if we believed God when He tells us He loves us? Think of how a relationship changes once you know there's true love there. God is not out to trick us. We need not guard ourselves from Him. In actuality, it's the opposite. He's desperately calling us to so much more. He's laid out all these dreams and gifts in front of us, and He's cheering us on, begging us to pick them up and see what He has planned for us.

I challenge you today to claim the verse that says you have the mind of Christ. It's not a fight. It's already been bought for you. All you have to do is reach out and take it as your own. Become conscious of the way you think about God. Are you afraid of His punishment and disappointment? Do you feel ashamed? Or do you really believe you are what He has called you? Precious. Honored. Loved.

You are His own, and nothing you can do or have done will change His love.

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This is totally random, but I couldn't pass up the chance to share it with you. Today I got to meet up with my critique partner, Angie Dicken and have lunch! This woman is such a blessing in my life. It's like God knew I needed her as a friend, and didn't let the physical space between us keep that from happening. Here's a picture taken shortly after our excursion in the Godiva store.

Now, Faith...

I have a sensitive heart.

I worry about dogs wandering the side of the road, butterflies in traffic, and kids who seem sad.

I carry these things with me--all the time--until, after a while, they get heavier, and heavier, and I break down. I give them to God, and I lay them down. And then when I'm feeling strong enough, suddenly I find myself in a new day, picking up new burdens like little packages that need my care. And I start to worry more and more that if I don't tend to them, no one else will care.

This is a problem in my life.

This might be my biggest struggle against God.

I have a hard time letting go because I care so much. Recently, a mockingbird made a nest in our maple tree, and I started using leashes when I took the dogs outside because I was just sure they were going to get the birds. I fretted and fretted and prayed and prayed and prayed, and one day I went out there and found the nest on the ground. This was very upsetting to me. Just three mockingbird eggs, but they had life. And I feel this ever-present responsibility to care for life.

Have you been there? Maybe your circumstances are different, but do you pick up little burdens throughout your days and hold on to them as if they won't inevitably bring you down? As if they somehow need your care to be okay?

God has been teaching me two things lately. Letting go, and that little acts of faith matter. Let me explain.

What is faith if we cannot, at the end of it all, simply let go to God? 

Many times, when we feel this urge to tend to things, it comes from a good heart. I am passionate about creation and want to care for it the best I can. Praying about these things is good. Praying as a vehicle for control is not. There's this fine line where we step back and realize that our attempts to please God are nothing and that He simply wants us. Not that we shouldn't bring our concerns, our hearts to God, but rather, if we pick them right back up afterwards, what good has it done?

And then the other thing--how little acts of faith matter. I don't know about you, but I live under this constant feeling of not being good enough. I don't know where this came from. I was never in an environment that perpetuated this tendency, so the only conclusion I can draw is that it must've come from somewhere deep within. I am a perfectionist. I like things well-done, but I am rarely satisfied. And so when I am filling my figurative backpack with all these heavy rocks, they begin to weigh on me. I inevitably try to tackle the problems myself, all at once. And I always, always fail. Oh, it may look like a great success to the outside eye. But I know where I could've done better. And this makes me tired.

But is this the life God has called us to? Has He not given us a framework for laying these burdens down, once and for all? Has He not offered us peace instead of the worry that comes when we become overly invested in solving our own problems?

Last night, God led me to Hebrews 11 before bed. Speaking of which--daily quiet times, there's a great example of a situation where I always feel like I'm dropping the ball. Can you relate? I wish I had space to copy the whole chapter here, so instead, I'm going to give this link: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+11&version=NIV

"Now faith," it says, "is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for."

The rest of the chapter goes on to outline some of the giants of the faith and all of a sudden, you come to see the Old Testament is this beautiful outline of people who believed God, and it was counted to them as "righteousness." Moses is one of the examples given, and I'm always amazed by that, because really, it would seem Moses lost his faith in God's promise, would it not? But he still gets a shout-out. Which is so encouraging, isn't it, to know our faith doesn't have to be perfect in order for it to count.

I hope you're encouraged today to know God loves you right where you are. And as well all strive to be better, to do things well as we run around throughout the day, may we also remember the reason behind it all.