Getting to Know the ProphetsSampel

Jonah

Second chances warm my heart. I’m grateful when they come my way because sometimes I need a do-over. Just keepin’ it real. As Jonah was being hurled into tumultuous sea waters, the sole focus of God’s wrath, I doubt he saw his second chance coming. Cue a big fish.

If you read the bonus verses yesterday, you know Jonah experienced some great moments of repentance and reflection in the belly of that fish. And when God told the fish to spit him out, Jonah made a beeline to Nineveh to deliver God’s message: “Yet 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” But today’s reading reveals there’s more to this story. Jonah may have learned to obey God, but he struggled to trust God with the outcome. When the Ninevites received Jonah’s warning and humbled themselves before God, he despaired. In fact, Jonah wished for his own death rather than being witness to God’s mercy on his enemy, the Ninevites.

1. Think of two or three times you’ve experienced God’s mercy in your life. (Mercy is the act of withholding just punishment.) How did this make you feel?

2. Think of a time when someone you would consider an opponent or enemy received mercy. How did this make you feel?

Prayer: God, thank You for Your mercy in my life. Help me to trust You in how You deal with me and those to whom I am opposed.