Jonah: Lessons Learned

The story of Jonah is an event in the Bible that has become so commonplace to me that I am guilty of treating it like a fairy tale - a bedtime story. For the longest time, I thought of pinnocchio when I heard Jonah's story. That is embarrassing for me to admit because I know the Bible is not a fairy tale. It is the true, inerrant word of God! Yet, I am guilty of taking the stories that are told and retold for granted, treating them more like cautionary tales than actual teaching from God. Then on Sunday, my pastor was able to do the inconceivable: he took these passages and breathed new life into them for me!

If you don't know the story of Jonah, there is a small book devoted to it in the Old Testament. You can find it here, or look in the table of contents in the front of your Bible to look it up for yourself. That's what I had to do Sunday morning. It's a very tiny book and hard to find if you don't visit it regularly.

Abridged version: God tells Jonah to tell the people of Nineveh that they are completely messing up and He wants them to straighten up and fly right. Jonah says, in his most whiny voice, "I don't wunnah!" And runs away from home. The boat he runs away on gets caught in a storm. Jonah knows the storm is God's way of shaking him up, but even then he won't talk to God. He ends up getting thrown overboard and spending some time in the belly of a large fish until He finally cries 'Uncle' and repents. The fish pukes him up, he goes to Nineveh, they repent, Jonah pouts because he thinks God should have zapped them anyway. God tells him he's not the boss, God is, and to deal with it. God also tells Jonah to exercise a bit more compassion. The End.

It's a pretty good story, but it's much more than that. Here's the cool part:

There is definitely a little bit of Jonah in all of us!

Jonah is told to do something very simple. I'm sure he knew it was the right thing to do, but he doesn't want to get confrontational with anyone, let alone a whole community. So he decides to hide from God. How often have I been guilty of the exact same thing? I end up in a conversation with a Christian sibling and they share something that is definitely outside of God's plan for us as His children. I know I should say something, but I don't wunnah. It is much easier to ignore the issue, to sidestep the whole matter, to run away. Then, when God starts convicting me, I hide my head under the pillow and pretend I can't hear him. Sharing God's truth in love can be difficult, but it is one of our primary obligations to each other as Christians.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. - Matthew 28:19-20 (emphasis mine)

Here's what I thought about after church: How prone we are to become jealous when God blesses a brother or sister who repents. Somehow, we want them to be sorry and straighten up. But we don't think they should have the right to be as close to or blessed by our Heavenly Father as we are. After all, we were the ones who were obedient first! We shouldn't have to sit back and watch the more rebellious, but also repentant, ones flourish when we don't feel like we're being blessed appropriately for our efforts. Jealousy.

I was reminded, once again, of the passage God laid on my heart recently. I know it is a word for me for very personal reasons, but all of us as Christians can take comfort in the truth of this passage:

This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open: “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close." -Revelation 3:7-8

The door he has opened for you is not the same door he opens for someone else. And no one but God Himself can close any door that He has opened for you. There is never a need for jealousy. Just like Jonah we can get caught up in "it's not fair" syndrome, but there is never a need for such behavior. He opens doors for each one of us that have absolutely nothing to do with the doors he opens for someone else.

If you see God blessing someone who has repented, rejoice in that. It means you serve the One True Living God with the power to open doors for all of His children at precisely the right time and in precisely the right way. What a mighty God we serve!