Tuesday, June 07, 2016

When reading Jonah 4 it’s clear that Jonah’s agenda was to see the people of Nineveh, wiped off the face of the earth. Everything he experienced was put through and evaluated by that grid. Even when he acquiesced to God’s agenda he wanted it to somehow fulfill his own agenda. In addition, he didn’t want any personal accountability. There’s no indication in the book that he had a friend, a prayer partner, or an accountability relationship. He was a lone ranger concerned only with fulfilling his own agenda. There was no room for forgiveness for Nineveh, or frankly for Jonah, himself. He was unwilling to confess his wrong perspective. Consequently there was no healing. He was obviously ticked off that God responded positively to the Ninevites’ confession and repentance. The unprecedented revival which followed was repulsive to Jonah, even though, or maybe, because of, his being the one God used to bring the revival. But don’t be too hard on Jonah. If you are married to an unsaved person, ask yourself, why do I want my spouse saved or changed? Do I want to make it easier on myself in my marriage? Or do I want my spouse’s salvation to bring glory to God? Or, why do you want your children to obey God’s word? To make parenting easier? To make you look good as a parent? What if God answers your prayer, changes your child and calls them to serve Him in the inner city or some foreign land? Would you be glad about that? Ask yourself, whose agenda really matters to you anyway?