Jonah 1:11 – 12 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
Have you ever confessed to something, and tried to make things right, only after you’d been caught? At that point, when everyone already knows you are guilty, it’s a little late. Sure, you might be able to make some restitution, but it would have been a lot better if you’d ‘fessed up before you’d been caught.
That’s what happened to Jonah. He knew he’d disobeyed God. He knew he’d caused the storm, and that it was putting everyone in danger. But it was only after they’d cast lots and Jonah was found to be the guilty party that he said, “It’s my fault.”
Then, he offered to give his life for them.
Interesting.
Jonah wasn’t willing to go to Ninevah and offer God’s love to thousands of people, but he was willing to be thrown overboard to save a few sailors.
Noble? Maybe.
But I’m thinking his hatred for those Ninevites must have run pretty deep. After all, God didn’t ask him to give his life for them. He just said to go and tell. But Jonah didn’t want to go and tell, because he didn’t want them to know God’s love. He hated them that much.
Hatred had tainted Jonah’s outlook. He couldn’t see the bigger picture. He refused to acknowledge that the Ninevites were just people who needed God every bit as much as the Jews did.
I wonder . . . what kinds of attitudes are tainting my outlook? What kinds of fears and prejudices and ideas are causing me to see things irrationally?
I want to see things from God’s perspective, not my own.
Dear Father, I love you. Forgive me for letting my own ideas about things cloud my perspective. Help me to see things from your point of view.
Amen
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