Living a Life on MissionSample

Jonah: A Reluctant Missionary

Think...

What was the response to Jonah’s message?

What was Jonah’s response to God’s display of mercy?

To fully understand why Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh, we need to understand that Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. Assyria was a cruel and violent nation and an enemy of Israel. Jonah did not want to call his enemies to repentance. He was familiar with the character of God and knew that if Nineveh repented God would show mercy to them (Jonah 4:1-2). This was the last thing he wanted. He wanted his enemies to suffer as they had inflicted suffering on his nation.

God, on the other hand, wanted His message brought to Nineveh so badly that He called on a giant fish to help persuade Jonah to His point of view. Amazingly, when Jonah did finally make it to Nineveh the people believed his message immediately (Jonah 3:5). They humbled themselves before God, hoping that He would relent and not destroy them (Jonah 3:6-9).

The very thing that Jonah feared came to pass and he became so angry that he wanted to die. God sent a plant and a worm to teach Jonah another lesson about Himself. “But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” (Jonah 4:11, NLT).

Assyria was an enemy of God’s people, but God in His grace and mercy still had pity on them. Now, Assyria would eventually crumble. Their repentance as a nation would not last long. But at this moment in history, they heard word of the Lord, repented, and were shown mercy.

God once again showed His heart for all people, even those we may consider too wicked to care or beyond His reach. Sometimes, we allow animosity to grow in our hearts toward different people or cultures. This can stop us from demonstrating God’s heart of compassion to them or even praying for their hearts to be changed.

Let’s learn from Jonah’s mistake and be deliberate to cultivate God’s heart for all people, even those we find difficult to love.

Apply...

Think back to the individual or group of people that came to mind yesterday, when you thought about a bitterness that you harbour.

What can you do to continue to develop God’s heart for people you find difficult to love? Are there actions that you need to take to help your heart align to God's truth about all people?