49. The Story of Jonah (Jonah 1:1-4:11).

by Wesley Blackburn

If you grew up in church at all, chances are that you heard the story of Jonah (and the whale, or giant fish, or whatever your translation says) several times. But chances are that you probably didn't hear the whole story of Jonah. You didn't hear about how Jonah did all that he could to run away from God and from His will for Jonah's life. You probably didn't hear about how after preaching a message that would save thousands from hell, Jonah cared more about a little plant than people.

But Jonah (just like everyone else in the Bible) was a real person. He had real moments of glory. He also had real struggles. Very real ones, in fact. Jonah's one of the guys I'm glad is in the Bible; you can see his faults, but yet God still uses him and today we even call him one of our prophets in the line of the Christian faith.

What do I learn from the story of Jonah? Well, for one, I think I'm reminded of the importance of following God's call the first time. Look at all the trouble that Jonah brought upon himself because he wouldn't just listen to God and do what God commanded. Did Jonah have his reasons? You bet. Assyria was Israel's sworn enemy, and Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrians. They were known to be extremely brutal to the nations they captured, and they were right on Israel's doorstep. The last thing that Jonah could have wanted was for God's blessing to be with the Assyrians as well. But that doesn't offset the simple fact that God asked Jonah to go. No matter what, that means that Jonah needed to go.

But I think the other thing I see comes at the end of Jonah, in chapter four. Here, Jonah expresses his anger that God forgave the Assyrians. Jonah, quite exhausted and hot, would then lie down and God caused a plant to grow and give Jonah shade. This would make Jonah happy. But then, God would allow the plant to die, which made Jonah extremely angry. God would then ask Jonah, "Why did you care so much about this plant that helped only you, and so very little about the spiritual welfare and well-being of 120,000 people whom you just preached to?"

This question is a big sting to me. There have been a lot of situations where I've been more concerned and excited about myself and what's happening in my life rather than caring about the needs (especially the spiritual ones) of others. Maybe instead of taking so much time to cater to my own needs, God wants me to instead care about the needs of others, especially those who don't yet know Christ. Perhaps God wants me to step out of my comfort zone and boldly engage those who don't yet believe that are around me.