Well,
welcome back to another episode of Struggling Well. And struggling well is just one piece of tandem spiritual uality, the ministry that Suzi and I launched 6 years ago. And it's our one weekly entrance into your all's lives. And so, thanks for the privilege of us doing it. Thank you for listening to us. And we're going to pick this up. One of the other things that we do, Suzi, one of the things that you do is a Bible study with a group of young women on a weekly basis. And recently, you finished the book of Jonah, an Old Testament minor prophet.
So, here's my question for you this morning. What surp surprised you?
Yes, you studied through the book of Jonah.
Oh, good question. I wish you'd given that to me ahead of time so I could have actually thought about it.
the spontaneous is so
I know we are like, woo, very spontaneous. you know, originally when I felt like God was leading me to do Jonah, I just thought, ah, this is a short little book. It's h how much impact can there be in four chapters? and it's the story we all know about Jonah, God calling him to bring his name to the Ninevites and Jonah was like, "Nah, I don't want to do that." He had he had had great success as a prophet and he doesn't want to go to the Ninevites because he hates them for whatever reason. I don't know. I'm sure historians can tell us more. so I thought, "All right, this isn't going to be that big of a deal." but I a couple of things hit me. First of all, God asked Jonah something I wish I could hear. hear the audible voice like Jonah probably did. I do not. But God asked Jonah to do something and Jonah says no. That surprised me. but what surprised me more is the grace that God showed Jonah, not just the Ninevites, because they were a wicked evil people and their turning about from their behavior was short-lived because then they marauded and tortured people later on. in history with Israel. But the fact that God showed grace that he cared enough about one man and then 120, 000 people in Nineveh, that's a very interesting contrast there. One man, Jonah, and then all these people in Nineveh. And I think the thing that also surprised me, but it shouldn't have because I see it in my own heart and I see it in other people's hearts is how angry that Jonah got at what God had to say. And that just kind of took me by surprise, babe.
Yeah, it's it is a fascinating book. And if everybody likes stories that have happy endings and everybody lives happily ever after. This is not one of those stories.
because when you get to chapter 4, it scripture says in verse one, it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was angry. And he then basically He says, "God, isn't this what I said was going to happen?"
Yeah. I knew you were going to be a gracious, compassionate God. And that ticks me off. Right.
So, and he goes on to say, "Sorry, I'm jumping in here because it gets me excited, this book." Then he goes on to say, "I'm so angry. I want to die."
Right. Right. And it and I love the way he understands the character of God because he says, "I knew you were a gracious God, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. and relenting from disaster. I He has the character of God nailed. I mean, he's a prophet, a spokesperson for God. So, he gets that.
He just doesn't like the way God showed it and demonstrated it and he ends up the book of Jonah ends up with him angry.
But what's also fascinating to me is so he's so angry at God in chapter 4 and he goes let I got to back up because he gets you know the whole thing he's on the boat. He's wanting to go to Tares, the waves come and the sailors on the boat are like, "Something's wrong. Pray to your God." And finally they get to Jonah and go, "Dude, pray to your God." And Jonah goes, "It's me. It's my fault. Throw me overboard." Which put them in a funny place. So he gets swallowed by this great fish. And while he's in the fish is when he wants grace.
That's fascinating. But when he looks at Nineveh, he doesn't want them to have grace. And I have just played and played with that thought in my mind about why was he so angry because at his deepest level, I think you're right. He nailed God's character, but his heart wasn't in sync with what God was doing.
Yeah. And so I bring if I want to bring it forward to our day and age, are there people who are different than us? Different than our culture and in the United States, they're different than us, but they're all made in the image of God. And yet we would find it hard if God gave grace to them. But we want for ourselves
and Jonah's heart not being in sync with God is he had a relationship with God but there was something that he valued more than God and I think this fits so much in our world today is and I'm some of you might be rolling your eyes when I say this but Jonah was a nationalist he cared more about Israel and rightly so caring for Israel he was a messenger to Israel but he cared more about that and so he was willing to go against God because God wasn't going to do what he wanted to do. He wanted to He goes and sits outside the city while all this change is happening inside Zackloth and ashes and the Ninevites are sorrowing over their the way they've lived. He goes out and waits basically like I can I mean I can just picture him sitting making that little shack that he sat under and just sitting there going, "Okay, any second now, God's going to zap him. I'm sure he's going to zap him." And he waits there and then he's angry. that God doesn't do what he wants to do.
Yeah. And in the last verse of the book of Jonah, God is speaking and he said, "And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than 120, 000 persons who don't know their right hand from their left, and all so much cattle." Now, I don't quite understand the last phrase in all so much cattle, but the 120, 000 people who God knows are made in his image, who don't know their right hand from their left, which means there's a bankruptcy in their understanding of who God is. And God says, "Should I not have pity on them?" And I think that's the question for us as we think about this world that we live in which has a lot of factions in it. And there's a lot of things out there that we don't like about the way people respond to God or don't respond to God. And yet God sees each one in his image
and deserving of his grace.
How about we talk about this a little more? next week. You want to?
Sure.
Thank you so much for joining us and stay tuned to Jonah part two. Have a great week.