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June | June 27, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
When teaching on the book of Jonah I’ve often been asked, “Whatever happened to
Jonah?” It seems like the book ends abruptly and leaves you hanging with
regard to Jonah’s life. As I’ve thought about this I came to realize that
it was indeed Jonah who wrote this book, which does not portray his life in a
very flattering way. He does write about his experience in a ruthlessly
honest way. You will notice as you read that He does extol God, His
character, His compassion and His ability to do what He sets out to accomplish.
He does present the work of God in the lives of the Ninevites in a positive way.
The more I thought about this, I wondered if God had given him a prescription
for deliverance from depression: the prescription - start journaling.
Writing this book could have resulted from God’s prescribed therapy to deliver
Jonah from depression, and even more helpful, getting him to wrestle with his
problem of anger. The book does end with the words of God, “Should I not
be concerned about that great city?” Possibly as a result of journaling,
Jonah came to the same conclusion, but now in humility he didn’t want to exalt
or draw attention to himself. Maybe he had finally learned that God’s
agenda is what really matters, not his own. Anyone who learns that will be
healthier, both emotionally and spiritually, and life will be more fulfilled and
fruitful. If what I’ve surmised is accurate it would probably be good for
all of us to journal, writing down what we are learning from God and applying
what we learn to our lives. |
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