Thinking The Sovereign Act

“But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD, ‘Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ But the LORD replied, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the LORD God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, ‘It would be better for me to die than to live.’ But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’ ‘It is,’ he said. ‘And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.’ But the LORD said, ‘You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left -- and also many animals?’” (Jonah 4:1-11, NIRV.)

The in-coming Philippine President once said that when he studied in a university abroad, what he learned was to think.

A Christian book has a sub-heading, "The Importance of Thinking." It goes on to say, "Healthy Christianity clearly appreciates the life of the mind. Love God ‘with all your mind,’ says Jesus (Matt. 22:37). ‘Think over what I say,’ Paul tells Timothy, and us with him (2 Tim. 2:7)... It is a tragedy that in many Christian circles, the life of the mind is not prized, and it is even diminished..." (Thinking. Loving. Doing. by Piper & others).

Let's then realize the importance of thinking. Let's think before we react to any situation.

So, especially before we react to unpleasant things, let us think and think what is right. Let's proceed to explore our topic, THINKING THE SOVEREIGN ACT, while we focus on our text (Jonah 4:1-11).

One of the unpleasant things we experience or feel is when we get angry. When that kind of feeling would come, how should we react? Or, before we display our reaction when we get angry, what should we think first?

Remember Jonah? When God commanded him to go and preach in Nineveh, he disobeyed and went to the opposite direction. God could have restrained him from taking the ship going to Tarshish. But He acted only when the ship was already on the sea.

Could we have an idea why God did it?

It seemed before God would allow Jonah to minister to the people in Nineveh, God had also other thing in His mind. He wanted Jonah to minister first to the Gentile sailors. Notice what Jonah testified to them:

"... I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (Jonah 1:9).

They replied in verse 10, "This terrified them and they asked, 'What have you done?' (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)"

Finally, we read in verse 16, "At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.”

God powerfully used Jonah's testimony to them.

In chapter 2, while inside the belly of the big fish, Jonah offered his prayer of repentance. And in chapter 3, the people of Nineveh also repented, when they heard the message of Jonah. So, God relented of the disaster He had said He would do to them.

Now, in our text, as we see the reaction of Jonah, we could also dig out two important things to think about, when the feeling of anger starts to seep in our emotion. What are those? First...

I – GOD CAN EASE OUR DISCOMFORT (vv. 1-6).

We read verses 1-6, “But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD, ‘Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ But the LORD replied, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the LORD God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant.”