But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ And the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city. The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’ But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?’ And he said, ‘Yes, angry enough to die.’ Then the Lord said, ‘You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?’ (Jonah 4:1-11, NRSV)
Have you ever wanted something and you prayed for it and you felt like it was going to happen, like this is really where God is leading you?
Jonah was there. He was sure the Ninevites were going to get it. They had mistreated so many for so long and had been living out of the path of God, and God was going to smite them. He sent Jonah to Ninevah to warn them, that they had 40 days. And they heard what God was saying through Jonah and they repented and God turned from His anger.
Jonah was now left with the emptiness of what he thought was what was going to happen not happening. Jonah thought God would do what Jonah wanted Him to do since Jonah did what God asked.
Do we ever find ourselves getting upset with God because He didn’t do it my way?
God does not need an adviser, He needs followers, people who will not get upset when things don’t go their way, but are ready to go and do as they are led for the good of all people!
So is it my way, or is it God’s way?
aSacredRebel 