Sermon # 44 - God Is Mindful Of Us Series

For our meditation let us look at Jonah 4:6, “Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.” (ESV)

God gave Jonah a task to go and preach against Nineveh. Jonah disobeyed at first, but God intervened, and got Jonah to get back on track to do as He bid him to. As Jonah preached to the city of Nineveh, the king along with all the people repented. When God observed their penitence, He relented from destroying the people of Nineveh. However, Jonah was not pleased about the restoration of the people of Nineveh, but was rather angry and annoyed with God for not destroying them as He had proclaimed through Jonah.

Jonah therefore went out of the city, prepared a temporary shelter for himself, and sat down dejected and downcast, hoping that God would destroy the city of Nineveh as He had decided to earlier. The shelter must have been so flimsy that it caused much discomfort to Jonah as the sun’s heat scorched him with the sweltering heat. As God observed this scene, He could have ignored Jonah, but graciously God wanted to teach Jonah a few lessons. It astounds us to realize that God Almighty who is the creator of heaven and the earth, was actually mindful of this one man Jonah, and wanted to change his depression and discouragement to cause a change of heart within him. In order to do this God caused a gourd to grow, and this plant was so enormous that it gave Jonah refreshing coolness from the harsh heat, which Jonah was elated with.

David was in awe of God

The Psalmist David perceived the greatness of God and this is how he portrayed it.

We read in Psalms 8:3-4, “Look at the splendor of your skies, your creative genius glowing in the heavens. When I gaze at your moon and your stars, mounted like jewels in their settings, I know you are the fascinating artist who fashioned it all! But when I look up and see such wonder and workmanship above, I have to ask you this question: Compared to all this cosmic glory, why would you bother with puny, mortal man or be infatuated with Adam’s sons?” (TPT)

As David observed the splendor of God’s creation, he couldn’t help, but ponder as to the greatness of the God who could create these things. The thing that astounded David even more was the fact that this great God who created the moon and the stars in all their splendid array was actually mindful of mere mortal men.

For those who are in a place where you feel no one knows or understands all that you are going through, be certain that God is aware of everything. There is no need to feel discouraged or to complain because we have a God who is mindful of us, and of all that we go through.

God did the same for Jonah who was disheartened and discouraged. The effort that God took to help Jonah understand His heart and His ways is truly amazing to us.

Moses was misunderstood

We read about Moses in Act 7:25, “(He thought that his own people would understand that God was going to use him to set them free, but they did not understand.)” (GNB)

Though Moses grew up as a prince in the palace of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, deep down in his heart he knew that he was not an Egyptian, but a Jew. Moses also was well aware that his own people were slogging as slaves under Pharaoh. Interestingly, Moses also perceived that God had chosen him to deliver the people of Israel from the cruel hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. This fiery zeal was burning so strong in the heart of Moses that he thought that his own people would understand this fact, but sadly the Israelites were unaware of this.

Though the vision and passion to save his own people was strong in Moses, his haste led him to have to flee from Egypt for forty long years. After those long years of tending sheep in the wilderness, the flame and passion that once burned inside Moses gradually died down. As Moses settled himself to the lot of doing the mundane day in and day out, one day he saw a scene that astounded him.

God’s revelation and re-assurance to Moses

This was what Moses encountered as recorded in Exodus 3:2, “There the angel of the LORD appeared to him as a flame coming from the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire but that it was not burning up.” (GNB)