Being Jonah

We've all heard or read the story of Jonah and the whale. The Lord tells Jonah to go preach to the people in Ninevah. Jonah doesn't want to so he runs away. However, God stops him, and Jonah ends up in the belly of a big fish. Jonah ends up going to Ninevah, he preaches what God wants him to preach, and his mission is done. But Jonah never changed his attitude. He continued to be angry throughout his entire mission.

Have you ever felt like Jonah? Have you ever felt angry because God was telling you to do something you didn't want to do?

I have. For quite a while I have felt like this. But only recently have I been able to identify this feeling and have been able to clearly see who I have been acting like. I have been acting like Jonah. And I don't like it.

I think God must have me where I am right now for a reason. What's that reason? I don't know. How long will I be where I am? I don't know. What exactly will I be doing here? I don't know. What I do know is this deep feeling that I am here because He put me here, and I won't be leaving until He is ready for me to leave.

And like Jonah, I've done my share of running the other direction. I've tried to go somewhere else and do something else, but nothing ever happens. I'm stuck here. Then a pastor said aloud what I had been thinking to myself for a few days now: "What if you are there for a reason?" And like Jonah, I've been angry, upset, and feeling sorry for myself. But then I thought, what happened to Jonah after he completed his mission? We don't know. Throughout his entire mission, he was angry. So my best guess is that he continued to be angry even after his mission was complete. Doesn't seem like a very happy ending to me.

So here I am, ready and trying to be willing to do whatever it is the Lord wants me to do because I am tired of being angry and upset over this and I am tired of feeling sorry for myself. I want to have a happy ending when this mission is complete.

All that being said, I guess this is just a prayer request. Pray that I stop being like Jonah. Pray that I stop running away and face this mission that God has placed me in. Pray that God gives me the strength to lay my anger and self-pity at the feet of Christ each and every day.

Thank you for listening, or reading I guess I should say, and thank you for your prayers.