I do not care for the ending of Jonah. It is such a cliffhanger to me. I love to read stories. And when I read stories, my judgment on the quality is if it makes my stomach clench throughout. Even a book I have re-read 5 times can have that same effect on me. I know I’m involved with the characters when that happens. And Jonah is a pretty good story. But if the ending of this book was in the ending of another book I have read, I would be quite upset. I want to know what happened!
So post-preaching to the Ninevites, Jonah has a bad attitude. He starts out in a good mood, sitting down to wait for the smiting of his enemies. But as time goes on and it doesn’t happen, he gets grumpy. To the point of comedy in my opinion.
Do we see that in our own lives? Maybe not the waiting for the smiting of enemies (or maybe for some readers, that is true), but just for the fulfillment of what we want? Maybe you have something in your mind of how things should go, and you are happily waiting to see that happen. But when it doesn’t, you get angry, grumpy, and over-dramatic. Do we stop to think that maybe what we want isn’t always the best way?
God’s response to Jonah in the last chapter is powerful to me. He says to Jonah, “I made them, who are you to decide they need to die? You care more about a plant that you didn’t even plant than these living, breathing people that I designed.” (not actually a quote from Scripture – my paraphrase).
Do you ever care more about what you want to have happen than the people God designed? Again, it might not be that you are waiting for them to die. But maybe you are more upset that your order at a restaurant was messed up than the fact that the person taking your order was having a really bad day and made a mistake. Maybe you want so much to be proven that you are the most right about something at school or work or church that you are alienating people that you could be having an impact on?
When you are focused on yourself and what you want, remember that other people matter too. The fact that someone managed to show up for work might be a huge victory for them, even if your order got messed up. Taking the time to care about people more than your own selfish, petty desires, not only can improve someone else’s life, but your own too.
~Stephanie Fletcher