JonahSample

Why All This trouble?

Stories like Jonah often leave us wondering why. Why would God send such a reluctant prophet? Surely there were other prophets who were more willing to be obedient. Why use what Jonah’s culture feared most to bring this wayward prophet back to obedience? Could there not have been easier ways to work than to defy the laws of nature?

Then there is the end of the story. Nineveh repents, but Jonah returns to his sulky ways. And that is where the story ends. Which leads us right back to the first question: Why use a man like Jonah instead of someone who shared the Lord’s mercy?

The answer to every why, whether in Jonah’s story or in our own, is always the same: God works all things for His glory.

The story of Jonah reminds us that God is sovereign, His purposes will be accomplished, and He will be glorified. But it also reminds us that we have a choice in the matter. We can be stubborn like Jonah, requiring God to humble us in the process of working His will through us. When we make this choice, God will accomplish His purposes and He will be glorified, but we will find no joy in it. We will feel used and abused, and our story will end in sulking, rebuke, and suffering—just as Jonah’s did. We will be left with nothing but more whys.

Our other option is to learn from Jonah’s errors and choose to be submissive, seeing things the Lord’s way and be willing participants in His plan. When we make this choice, God will accomplish His purposes and He will be glorified in it. But we will find great and marvelous joy in it! We will probably still ache in the discomfort of where God has us, but we can cling to our confidence that His plan is good and trust Him to see us through despite the pain. The whys may still rise in our minds, but the answer will come too: God does it all that He may be glorified.

Looking back through history, we see the perfection of God’s work through Jonah. We see how He showed His mercy, and we can trust Him to accomplish the same through us. God will be glorified through us. Will we be willing partners in His glorification?