I’m starting to think, like fame, we should all get our 15 minutes of anger; then: move on, buddy. Unfortunately, it’s not like that. The moving on part is so hard.  Jonah struggled with this.

I am perplexed over the last two chapters of Jonah. The fish spewing Jonah onto dry ground is such a nice stopping point. Whenever I advance into chapters 3 and 4, I get a little perturbed. God told Jonah to go and tell the people of Ninevah that God would destroy the city in 40 days because their wickedness was so great.

The people of Ninevah seriously and swiftly repented despite:

• No long, heart-wrenching sermon.
• Not a very motivational preacher.
• A small, weak and cowardly preacher.
• A haggard preacher (from his recent retreat in the fish).

Clearly it was the power of God’s grace & mercy at work here, not the power of man’s preaching. God accepted their repentance and withheld his judgment and punishment. He does that, you know, quite often.

“But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.” This weak, worn-out, sickly man threw his hands up and whined to the God of the universe: “I knew this would happen!! I knew you were gracious and merciful and would accept their repentance and withhold your anger. Kill me now.” (my version)

Oh, how many times I, too, have whined to the God of the universe!

Was Jonah upset that people had been rescued? Probably, a little. Repentance seemed so easy for the people of Ninevah, yet it was so difficult for the Israelites, it didn’t seem fair. And we like fair, don’t we? I think beyond that, Jonah feared that now his reputation would be ruined and he would be labeled a false prophet, a fool.

Do you see the irony: He himself disobeyed God, received a sentence of death, repented, was granted mercy and lived. He was cool with that. What he found difficult was sharing the love, sisters, allowing God to have mercy on whom He would have mercy.

Whatever it is that you’re hanging on to, let it go. It might seem “fair” and you might feel justified, but it’s slowing you down in your spiritual growth.  Jonah is forever memorialized sitting outside the city limits in a cloud of anger. He’s just left there. We’re never told what happened next.

Do you want to be like that?

If you’re in that tender spot with open wounds, hurt feelings, anger — turn to God, the Healer. Let his tender grace and mercy engulf you in peace.

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Photo credit: my own

“Life — a work of art” is Valerie’s prevailing source of inspiration which she occasionally embellishes in her blog “I Can Only Imagine.” She currently is in the slow and painful process of becoming an empty nester.