By Mahendra Prabhu
Vision is the ability to see potential in what others overlook.
Rick Warren
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
Jonah 1:1-2
Have you ever been asked to do a task you hated? What was your response?
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
Jonah 1:3
Did Jonah communicate his feelings to God?
“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
Jonah 1:12
In the face of danger, was Jonah more open to doing God’s will?
Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
Jonah 3:3
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Jonah 3:10 KJV
Jonah was successful in his mission. In three days, the whole of Ninevah repented.
How did God respond to their repentance?
The hebrew word used here is way-yin-nā-ḥem which means relented (abandon or mitigate a harsh intention or cruel treatment). Do you see the significance of God changing his mind?
Are there any other passages in the Bible where we see God change his mind?
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing 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. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah 4:4
What is happening here?
- Jonah is expressing his frustration to God.
- He is beginning to be open to God about how he feels.
Jonah is finally opening up to God about his true feelings. This openness allows God to influence Jonah.
9 Then God said to Jonah, “What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?” Jonah said, “Plenty of right. It’s made me angry enough to die!” 10-11 God said, “What’s this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planted nor watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can’t I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?” – Jonah 4:9-11
What do we see in this passage?
A growing connection between God and Jonah. Throughout this story, God never gave up on Jonah. It ends with Jonah growing closer to God than he was in the beginning. How does this story apply to our loved ones? Mental illness can cause our loved ones to withdraw from us, however, God sees potential in our loved ones and in us. He is not offended by our negative feelings. He is willing to be patient with us in our journey and he will see us through.
“being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:6