Jonah: Big Fish, Bigger GodSýnishorn

At the heart of our emotions

The reason that the prophet Jonah was mad enough to run from God is that Jonah was infatuated with Jonah. Skim the final chapter of this Old Testament book, and you’ll find plenty of “I,” “me,” and “my” on Jonah’s lips. To expose his self-centeredness, look what God did:

“Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die” (Jonah 4:6-8).

Jonah was so angry about his sunburn that he wanted to die. But when God saved thousands of others from burning in hell, Jonah didn’t care. Scratch that. Jonah claimed that God’s grace had gone too far!

Take note of your strongest emotions today. What makes you angry? What triggers excessive reactions? Probe your emotions and figure out what’s at the heart of them. You, like Jonah, may be too interested in yourself and not interested enough in others. Drag that sin to Jesus. If there’s anything we learn from the book of Jonah, it is that our God truly does love and forgive sinners like us.