Having a right view of God does not guarantee right behavior. You can know about God and understand His will, but still choose to go your own way. The prophet Jonah was a classic example of an individual who blatantly rejected God’s will for his life.

God had given Jonah a specific assignment – go and preach to the city of Nineveh. Jonah rejected God’s command and sought to sail away. God got Jonah’s attention by sending a threatening storm. Jonah knew the reason for the storm and he told the sailors throw him overboard so the storm would stop. God however, was not done with Jonah. He appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah and our reluctant prophet had an extended period of time for some serious soul searching in the belly of the fish. Three days later Jonah was ejected and carried out his assignment.

God worked through Jonah’s ministry and the city repented and was saved from destruction. Jonah had a successful ministry but he was not happy, he was angry. Jonah knew that God was gracious and compassionate and he had such contempt for the people of Nineveh that he wanted them to be destroyed:

He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. (Jonah 4:2)

God appointed a plant to grow to provide shade for Jonah, but Jonah had not learned the meaning of compassion. God assigned a worm to eat the plant and Jonah became angry and devolved into self-pity:

Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” (Jonah 4:9)

It’s significant to note that the only person who struggled to obey God in this story was Jonah – the fish obeyed, the people repented, the plant grew, the worm ate the plant, and the sun grew hot. God’s sovereignty is portrayed throughout this book.

Jonah needed to realize that the great privilege of being a spokesman for God comes with great responsibility. Jonah needed to learn that people matter to God and because they matter to God they should matter to us. We must realize that it is futile to resist God’s will. God will accomplish His will – either through us or someone else. Jonah foreshadowed the message of salvation that would come through God’s Son, Jesus:

But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;” (Matthew 12:39)

Associate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

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