Choosing Trust Over Cynicism: Reading Through Jonahಮಾದರಿ

The Courage to Trust Hope Again

So, what is the cure for the heart unwell with cynicism? What is the remedy for the ache that comes with a skeptical heart? How do we walk the tightrope of knowledge and wonder?

There is an aspect of Jonah’s story that is often missed. We can conclude that one reason Jonah flees is because he fears the Ninevites. And he has every reason to. Nahum 3 gives us a glimpse into just how wicked they are:

Woe to the city of blood,

full of lies,

full of plunder,

never without victims! . . .

Charging cavalry,

flashing swords

and glittering spears!

Many casualties,

piles of dead,

bodies without number,

people stumbling over the corpses (vv. 1, 3, NIV).

It’s understandable that when Jonah hears the word Nineveh, he tells God to “Get somebody else to do it!” But there is another reason Jonah doesn’t want to go. If I could offer a modern-­day interpretation, we could imagine Jonah as a Jewish man during World War II being told by God, “I’m going to bring terrible judgment on Nazi Germany. I want you to go to Berlin and tell the people there to repent.”

Here’s what I need you to know: I empathize with your cynicism. I understand what it’s like to experience the kind of loss and letdown that makes it hard to feel alive. I can relate to Jacob in Genesis 45 when his sons inform him that, after all these years, Joseph was alive. “But Jacob didn’t believe them, because he had become cynical [lit. his heart had become numb]” (Gen. 45:26, ISV). I can relate to Jonah, cynical after witnessing the evils people are capable of. I can relate to the truth J. A. Marx writes that “Cynicism comes from repeated wounding, from hope deferred, trust broken, doused optimism, and shaken beliefs.”

I sympathize that there are things that have made you cynical, but you were made for more.

The story of Jonah ends with a cliffhanger. Jonah persists that he has every right to be angry about the plant. Then God responds—­and the book of Jonah ends. We don’t know what happens to Jonah. We don’t know if he wrestles with his contempt and lets hope win on that hill. We don’t know if he continues to simmer with anger waiting for something that would never happen. But what we do know is that God has the final say. That the book of Jonah ends with an invitation that softens the heart of the cynic—­an invitation to allow God to finish the conversation our cynicism started.

When we let our wounds have the final say, we mute hope’s ability to speak over our limited perspective. Yet when we make the courageous choice to give Christ the last word, we rip up the roots of cynicism.

There is a better way. And God is in pursuit of your cold, cynical heart. He’ll send a big fish to swallow you before you drown. He’ll send a tree to cover you before you wither under the hot sun. He’ll pursue you despite your defiance.

When we let Christ enter our disappointment, our wonder and hope for life are preserved. And sometimes the fight to stay soft looks like a determined walk back to the wonder and awe of God in a dim and dull world. Sometimes we wage war against the callousness of cynicism by taking the risk to hope again.

In the same way, our hearts gradually fade into the abyss of cynicism, and the return back to wonder may feel slow. It may feel like dipping your toe in the pool you’ve longed to plunge into for months but aren’t quite ready to yet. It may feel like casting hope when you’re more inclined to cast judgment. I pray God wraps you in wonder and serenades you with delight. That you would live with your breath less constricted and your heart freer to see the goodness of humanity and the Goodness that is God.

Remember, God Himself is our Strength, Defense, and Salvation.

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2, NIV).

This YouVersion Plan is based on an excerpt from the book Courageously Soft: Daring to Keep a Tender Heart in a Tough World by Charaia Rush. If you want to learn more about opening your heart up to God and others again, check out Courageously Soft here.