A SPIRITUL MARATHON! #4

RUNNING AHEAD OF GOD/JONAH'S REACTION

Last week we left Jonah and Nineveh in a very good place. Jonah repented and obeyed God! Nineveh repented of their wickedness and thus God spared them. End of story? Sadly not! (Now would be a good time to read Jonah, Chapter Four.) Let's carefully consider the lessons for our lives we find here.

So Jonah obeyed "according to the word of the LORD." (Jonah 3:3) I believe Jonah obeyed because it was the "word of the LORD" to him, but his heart was still not really in the mission God sent him on. Sometimes we too, obey God because we truly fear the consequences of not obeying Him. We don't want to take the risks of disobedience, but we can obey God with "mixed emotions". We see here that God and Jonah remain far apart in motive for warning Nineveh. Jonah was still struggling with some pride, egotism and unconcern for the people of Nineveh. Here in Chapter Four, we find that Jonah was greatly displeased and angry because Nineveh actually did heed God's warning of coming destruction and they repented of their wickedness. Jonah thus manifested he was far removed from God's heart of mercy, grace and love. How can it be that Jonah, called of God, now DID all the right things, kept up the spiritual disciplines, BUT missed the heart of God - His heart of love, mercy and forgiveness? It was because Jonah's heart was yet hard!

Here is my challenge to us: While we are DOING our spiritual disciplines, which are necessary for life in the Spirit of God, let us NOT allow or succumb to the DOING . . . so that it gets in the way of actually EMBRACING THE HEART OF GOD! Here is a story that gives an example of what I mean:

Jim was working long hours in the shipping yard at Duluth, Minnesota. He told his fellow workers,

"I'm going to take a trip to St. Louis. I'm going to eat out, stay in a nice hotel, relax, enjoy myself, and swim in the pool." The day came; he was exceedingly excited; his co-workers heard his elation as he left work. Arriving at St. Louis, his fiancee Rachel met him at the airport. Running to each other, they embraced! They ate out, relaxed, enjoyed each other's company, talked wedding plans throughout the days they had together. He stayed in a nice hotel and enjoyed swimming in the pool. At the end of his vacation, he returned to Duluth, and went back to work. His co-workers could hardly wait to hear about his trip. They asked Jim, "How was your trip to St. Louis?" He replied, "Oh, I had a wonderful time; it was fabulous!" The very next weekend, three of his co-workers went to St. Louis prepared to enjoy a fabulous time. They were so excited as they left for their trip! On Monday, the three men returned to work and Jim asked, "Hey, guys, how was your trip?" "Not that great" said one. Another man replied, "It was boring!" The third one said, "I wish I would have stayed home and saved the money. " "What happened? asked Jim. They said, "We stayed in a nice hotel, ate out every meal, tried to enjoy ourselves, relaxed and swam in the pool, but there was nothing fabulous about it." Jim's co-workers asked him, "What made your trip so wonderful?" He answered, "Seeing and spending time with Rachel!"

You see, it wasn't the trip, it was not staying in a nice hotel, eating out, relaxing, swimming in the pool or enjoying himself! It was WHO was seen at the other end! Jim saw and spent time with RACHEL, the woman he was in love with that made his trip so fabulous!

Therefore, be assured it is not keeping the spiritual disciplines, DOING ALL THE RIGHT THINGS, but in that process we MUST SEE AND SPEND TIME WITH JESUS! We need to see and enjoy CHRIST in our trip of life! You see, we must allow Jesus to do something in us in order for Him to do something through us! In that way we will embrace His heart, and obedience to Him, His Word and His Will become a joy and blessing rather than mundane!

Listen to Jonah's testimony of the nature of God! ". . .for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster." (Jonah 4:2) Wow, even though his heart wasn't in the right place Jonah's knew and understood his God well, didn't he? Scripture affirms this unchangeable truth about God over and over! "Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens; your faithfulness to the clouds. . . ." (Psalm 36:5 - English Standard Version) "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." (Jeremiah 31:3) God's "steadfast love" is declared over 250 times in the Bible. ". . .The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. . . ." (Lamentations 3:22-23) In the Psalms, Chapter 136, the phrase "for His steadfast love endures forever" is repeated in every single verse for a total of 26 times. ". . .Bless the LORD. . .who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy. . . ." (Psalm 103:1-4) Yes, indeed; Jonah was right about God's nature including steadfast love and mercy. How then can we ever imagine Jonah, a Prophet of God, becoming angry when the people repented, turned from their wicked ways and began honoring God, which resulted in God showering them with His love and forgiveness? You would think Jonah would be praising God, but instead, we find a bitter and resentful prophet.

First, there is A DISPLEASED JONAH! Nineveh's repentance was not well received by this prophet. "But it displeased Jonah. . . ." (Jonah 4:1) Was he mad because God changed His plans from destroying Nineveh to showing mercy, grace and love instead? Was Jonah so displeased because Nineveh actually repented and turned away from wickedness? The answer is BOTH! He resented the fact that Nineveh responded in repentance and thus God changed His plan and He relented from destroying the people. There is an interesting question posed by Jesus in His teaching. Here it is: "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?" (Matthew 20:15) In other words, "Are you envious, mad, resentful or displeased because I am generous?" And Jonah answered "YES!" In fact, he was "exceedingly" displeased. (verse 1) Indeed, Jonah was "very angry." His displeasure resulted in anger. The word "angry" here literally means "Burning Up." Jonah was burning up with anger, resentment and bitter-

ness. This was his REACTION to God's mercy, grace and change of plans, and to Nineveh's repent-

ance! How Sad! Instead of Reacting, Jonah could have chosen to Act positively regarding what had taken place. Let's ponder some principles:

• A Right Attitude Acts; A Wrong Attitude Reacts

• Faithfulness Acts; Unfaithfulness Reacts

• Obedience to God Acts; Disobedience to God Reacts

Question: Are we Acting or are we Reacting? Action or Reactions, the choice is truly ours! Action is

an act of the will, something purposefully done or performed, initiating the accomplishment of a given task or job. A Reaction is the manner in which a person emotionally acts or feels in response to some-

thing that happens or is said. No question about it, Jonah's response was reactionary.

Second, this passage of Scripture reveals A DISMAYED JONAH! In his extreme anger, Jonah did some talking with God. "And he prayed to the LORD. . . ." (verse 2) Notice WHAT he said:

1) "Wasn't I right?" I knew it all along. "Is not this what I said when I was yet in my country?" I knew your mercy would untimately over-rule your plan to bring destruction on Nineveh. I knew I could not trust your word or rely on your purpose. (WATCH OUT: as this is satan's lie to Jonah, so anything similar is his lie to us!) Bitterness and resentfulness can lead us to doubt God, to distrust His Word, to question His real purposes, to criticize His character, to give in to satan's lies, intentions and temptations, and to elevate our own knowledge and insights, giving rise to PRIDE!

2) "That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish." Jonah basically said, "God, it was your fault that I ran from your presence!" I only ran away because I knew you would not follow through on your plan to destroy Nineveh. Instead, "I knew you are a gracious God and merciful. . . ." (verse 2) This is Jonah MAKING EXCUSE for himself, his attitude, his behavior, even his anger and bitterness.. WATCH OUT: Our human nature knows very well how to exonerate ourselves and place blame on someone else. We know how to ignore our own responsibility and focus on what others (even God) should do. Can we begin to fathom excusing ourself and rather placing blame on God's sovereign nature, word, plan, purpose, mercy, grace and love?

Jonah's fears and feelings rise to the surface here:

• He felt he lost credibility. "His" message to Nineveh was over-ruled and it did not happen. He felt no one would trust his word again. He was more concerned about people trusting him than he was about Jonah TRUSTING GOD! Are we more concerned about our credibility than we are about putting our trust in God and His Word?

• He feared he would be regarded as a False Prophet. In Bible times, a prophet who prophesied a message and it did not take place would be stoned to death.

• Not only was Jonah filled with anger, bitterness and resentment, he was PRIDEFUL! Pride goes before a fall, it is said. Do you see the middle letter in the word P R I D E? It is the letter "I" . . . Worldly pride means everything is about "ME!" Pride leads to focusing on FEELINGS and precipitates FEAR!

Third, we see A DESPAIRING JONAH! "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live." (verse 3) I think we can hear Jonah say, "I give up", "who cares what happens now?", "So what?", "It does not matter", "What difference does it make?", "I tried, but it wasn't good enough!", "I'm of no value", "There is no reason for me being here", "There is no value in ministry", "Life just isn't worth living", etc. Jonah saw himself in his humiliation, and his attitude was "Poor Me!" WHAT HE DID NOT SEE CLEARLY WAS GOD! When we focus on ourself, we have a very distorted view of GOD! Jonah was suffering:

1) Disappointment: This is to be dissatisfied, feeling let down, being upset and distressed.

2) Discouragement: This means to be disheartened, demoralized, downcast, sad and melancholy.

3) Disillusionment: This involves disenchantment arising from things turning out different than expected;

4) Despondency: A feeling of utter unhappiness; a deep dejection arising from the belief that

further effort is completely useless.

5) Despair: This means a total loss of hope, reckless action(s) in the face of frustration or despondency.

6) Defeat: An overwhelming sense of being demolished or destroyed; having been crushed; abandoned.

Here is my challenge to us when these feelings strike: We need to be on our GUARD to recognize the progression of following warning signs:

1) Disappointment left unchecked leads to Discouragement.

2) Discouragement if not dealt with constructively leads to Disillusionment.

3) Disillusionment left unconquered leads to Despondency.

4) Despondency running its course in our mind and spirit leads to Despair.

5) Despair left to fester in our inner being leads to Defeat.

6) Defeat brings greater damage to our physical, mental and spiritual well-being, and often leads to a very deep depression.

Fourth, there is THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD PIERCING JONAH'S MIND-SET! God begins His response to Jonah with a penetrating question, "Are you greatly angry?", "Are you burning up with anger?", "Do you have a right to be angry?", "Are you right in feeling this way?" Let's note the progression involved in the interaction between God and Jonah:

a) The depressed Jonah went out of the city and made himself a canopy for shade.

b) Then God caused a plant to grow to provide shade for Jonah so his discomfort would be minimized. Jonah was "exceedingly glad" for it.

c) Then God appointed a worm to kill the plant.

d) Then God sent a blazing sun and scorching wind that caused Jonah be be faint. Jonah told God again that he wanted to die.

e) God questioned Jonah again if he was angry because the plant died. Jonah replied that he was angry about it and angry about it even enough to die.

What an object lesson God devised to get ahold of Jonah and correct his attitude, his thinking and behavior! God rebuked Jonah for being mad and angry about the withered plant, reminded him that he had not planted it, not worked to keep it alive, and had no control over it. Then God brought the object lesson home to Jonah with this piercing question, "And should I not show mercy to Nineveh?" (verses 5-11)

Before we consider that God's dealings with Jonah were harsh, cruel and undeserved, let us remember the teaching of God's Word: "The Lord disciplines those He loves, and He chastens everyone he accepts as His son." (Hebrews 12:6) Whoever dreamed up that God's discipline and chastening come from anger or hatred? Indeed HIS LOVE IS WHAT PRECIPITATES HIS DISCIPLINE! We are disciplined by God because HE LOVES US SO DEARLY!

Let's remember that God penetrates right into the very heart of us with His truth! God faithfully and clearly teaches us, and if we don't listen and respond correctly, He will only use something else, sometimes little things (i.e. a plant and a worm), sometimes big things (i.e. blazing sun and scorching wind) to transform our mind-set, attitude and behavior. Are we listening and obeying?