- And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; 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 – When Jonah was in the belly of the fish, do you know which character traits of the Lord Jonah placed his hope in? That God would be gracious and merciful towards his wayward actions. That God would be slow to anger over his sins and show Jonah just how steadfast the Lord’s love was for him. When Jonah was in his rebellious state, looking at possible destruction for himself, he longed for such character traits to be true of God. Yet when it came to his enemies, Jonah despised these character traits of God. Jonah wanted God’s mercy for himself, but no mercy for his enemies. Jonah want God to have steadfast love towards himself, but steadfast rage toward his enemies. That isn’t what took place, and that’s why Jonah was so angry in this chapter. The same love, grace, and mercy demonstrated to Jonah was demonstrated to Ninevah. Why? Because God wasn’t just the God of Jonah, our God is the God of the entire world. All people and all nations fall under His rule, whether they know it or acknowledge it. Our God is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and with such titles He can show grace and love to whomever He desires. He’s not bound to only show His character to a select few, He desires all to repent, so when any do so we see the full character of God displayed in their lives like we see with Ninevah. Unlike Jonah, cherish when anyone receives the mercy, grace, and love of the Lord like you have. No, they don’t deserve it, but you didn’t either, and you’re eternally grateful it was still shown to you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3302
- And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” (v.4) What God asked Jonah during Jonah’s tantrum is a question we should direct right back at us. Do you do well to be _____? Angry, worry-filled, stressed, depressed, selfish; all these and more we could fill in that blank with. God’s question to Jonah is asking is it truly benefiting you or benefiting My plan when you’re angry like this? The correct answer that Jonah could not muster up was no, it’s not. We need to at least in our minds, if not in our actions, muster up the right answer as well with whatever we are filling in the blank with. Is whatever it is truly benefiting you and benefiting God’s plan? Is that worry actually helping you? Is that anger actually creating anything good for you? Is that self-destructive mindset actually leading you closer to the path God has for you? We need to begin checking out emotional state before we allow those emotions to lead our next step. Not saying you can’t have emotions, that would be absurd and un-human for us to live life like that. Let’s though take a moment and ask ourselves, is the mindset I’m in actually doing me well and doing God’s plan well or is that actually damaging me and my walk with God? Beginning to allow that question to be a filter in our lives will save us from taking steps that are led by the emotions that should never be the directors in our lives. This allows our focus on Christ to be the one that determines our steps and actions rather than the conditionally guided emotions in our life being our directors. – Daily DEVO 58
- And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” Jonah 4:10-11 – What’s more valuable, your comfort or their salvation? That’s what Jonah is being asked here by the Lord and is also the question being asked of us. We know their are people in our families, workplace, and school that don’t know Jesus. Yet often the reason we don’t share His love with them is that it somehow would interfere with our comfort. We’re comfortable being the quiet one at work or we don’t like the big debates sometimes bringing up Jesus at a family get-together can create. We just have to remember that often there will have to be a dropping of the comfortable in order to share Jesus’ love with someone. Make sure you see their salvation as more valuable than your comfort. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 661
- And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” Jonah 4:4 – The Bible does actually speak some on anger and when it’s okay to have within our story. God is asking Jonah to ask of himself if this anger he has towards God’s decision to save Nineveh is good to have. The answer, absolutely not. When your anger is leading you to denounce God’s character, desire the end of other’s lives, question God’s motives, and diminish the value of a life, then your anger is no longer good. Is then the anger you have good for you? Is it helping your intimacy with Jesus? Is it drawing you closer to your brothers and sisters in Christ? Is it increasing your heart for the lost? Is it bettering your witness? If not, can you truly tell me wallowing in this anger is good for you? If this anger is leading you away from the things God says to draw close to and closing your heart off to the things God said be open to, you are not right to be in your anger. Satan is using it in your story. No longer hold onto this anger, give it to God immediately, and choose to replace that anger with a love that seeks to mirror God’s unconditional love. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2092
Daily DEVO 