| Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish… [Jonah] answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.” |
| —Jonah 1:3, 9 |
Jonah was proud of his Hebrew heritage, and he considered himself a prophet of the Most High God. Yet somewhere, as he traveled the road of his life, he lost his way. Jonah’s attitude changed, and he began to care less about God’s will than he cared for his own selfish will.
Yet God, in His faithfulness—faithfulness not only to the Ninevites to whom He had sent Jonah, but to Jonah himself—took extraordinary measures to discipline his servant Jonah. The Hebrews hated the Ninevites and would have rather seen them destroyed by God than saved. Jonah bought into this cultural opinion. Therefore, Jonah turned away from helping the Ninevites in prophesizing to them and facilitating their return to God in repentance. Instead by ship, Jonah headed in the opposite direction.
Even after God called Jonah a second time and he reluctantly obeyed, Jonah became very angry that the people of the wicked city of Nineveh turned and repented. So, he sat down outside of the city and pouted.
In kindness, as Jonah experienced the extreme heat of the day, God provided for Jonah by causing a gourd with large foliage to protect Jonah from the sun and scorching wind. This vine became the only thing in this story that made Jonah happy. Then, God did something that again made Jonah angry: God sent a worm to eat the gourd, causing the foliage shading Jonah to wither and die.
God went to extreme lengths to call His wayward servant, Jonah, back to Himself. What a readjustment Jonah needed! God used a storm, a fish, a gourd, and a worm to call Jonah back into the center of God’s will for Jonah’s life. If God would do this for Jonah, we can be assured He will not let us disobey and turn from what He has called us to do. God is faithful. He will keep us from going and straying away from Him. Please note the Scripture passage found in 2 Thessalonians 3:3 that tells us:
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
God expects of us, His servants, today the same thing He expected of Jonah: complete obedience to God’s perfect will for our lives. And, God will not let us focus more on our own comforts than we focus on His sovereign plan for us. God will direct us to the best that He intends for us, even if He has to provide a “gourd and a worm” to do so!
