I Knew That You Were a Gracious God

What would you do if God called you to minister, and not just to minister, but to announce the saving love of God to a long-standing enemy?

The Old Testament book of Jonah, no more than 4 little chapters, tells a story of God calling a man named Jonah to go and to preach coming judgment to the people of Nineveh.

Now, a bit of the back story: At this time in Israel’s history, the northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered and exiled by the powerful kingdom of Assyria in roughly 722 BCE. Can you guess Assyria’s capital city?

You got it: Nineveh!

Now, Jonah is a prophet in northern Israel tasked with bringing a message from God to these–at least from his perspective–awful and irredeemable people. But, if it was any consolation, at least it was a message of utter judgement.

In any case, Jonah refuses to go. He runs away, gets on a ship, and subsequently finds himself thrown overboard and swallowed up by a massive fish which has been appointed by God to do so.

After a long prayer from Jonah (ch. 3), the fish spits him out and Jonah agrees to go preach to Nineveh. But the message doesn’t have the desired effect—or at least the effect that Jonah wanted it to have.

His listeners all repent! And, what’s more, God forgives every one of them!

Jonah is outraged and, near the end of the book, states why he refused to go initially:

“O LORD! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, ready not to punish people” (Jon. 4:2).

Is there someone in your life from whom you are withholding the gracious and saving love of God because it’s simply too painful to forgive them? And, if you do forgive, you know only to well that God will welcome them back. Maybe now is the time to stop running, and start reconciling.

At Ooltewah United Methodist Church we are a group of people who are committed to sharing the love of Jesus with everyone around us. You are welcome to be a part of our continuing efforts to understand how to embody the love of Jesus to the world around us!