"You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity." Jonah 4:2
Glenkirk's Women's Bible Study is studying the prophets, and we just finished Jonah. Jonah is a small book in the Bible, and most people think of it as the story about the whale that swallowed a man and then spit him up. I have to say, that Jonah is so much more than a story about a fish. It is an amazing book that shows God's compassion for even the most vile of people, and God's patience with us when we don't obey him.
Can you imagine if God prompted you to go to Afghanistan, find Osama Bin Laden, and tell him that God told you that he needed to repent and turn from his evil ways or God would destroy his country? Most of us would say, "Yeah, go get him God! He deserves your wrath!" An American would not even dare approach Bin Laden for fear of his life! This would be an impossible situation!
This scenario is an example of what God called Jonah to do. The rulers and people of Ninevah had done awful things to the Jews. They tortured them in gruesome ways. Jonah did not want God to have mercy on these people, so Jonah ran away from God's will. God, however, pursued Jonah until he did what God asked and preached about God's love to the people of Ninevah. The biggest miracle was that the people turned to God and stopped their evil ways and God spared them. That made Jonah even madder! Jonah still struggled with his own idea of God, and who deserves to have God's compassion.
Have you ever had someone in your life that you thought did not deserve mercy or forgiveness? It is easy to want that person to "pay" for what they did to you. They deserve to feel your wrath, or even God's wrath. However, that is the opposite of what God wants us to do. God wants us to show mercy to others, and He sets the example. God forgives and restores people to white as snow. He would never say no to anyone who calls on Him. God can use us all to be peacemakers. We can be agents of change when we let God's power direct us.
If you have someone to forgive, but you are feeling it stick in your throat, then remember how God forgives you. We all fall short of the glory of God.
"To infinite love and boundless compassion I am a debtor. Are you not the same?"
- Charles Spurgeon
God Bless,
Sandy
