TEXT: Jonah 4:7-11 (CSB) – “When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered. As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head so much that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.” Then God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “Yes, it’s right!” he replied. “I’m angry enough to die!” And the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. So may I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?”
We know by looking at this story – for Jonah, punishment was necessary! Notice all the things God had PROVIDED for Jonah:
· A huge fish!
· An entire nation that repented of their sins!
· A vine to give shade!
· AND NOW A WORM!
· AND AFTER THE WORM A SCORCHING EAST WIND (probably blew down his shelter!)
Notice too that Jonah in his self-pity couldn't see any of those things as wonderful provisions, even though earlier HE HAD STATED how thankful he had been that God saw fit to save him via the fish! Self-pity and "THANKFULNESS" do not coexist together very long! Hence this was another sign or symptom of his self-pity ... a THANKLESS heart!
Jonah expresses his extremes again; "IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR ME TO DIE THAN TO LIVE..." Yet, even as God was allowing his wish to die, "HE GREW FAINT"... he was complaining about dying! God was trying to show him how ridiculous his emotions were over such a small thing to help him appreciate the BIG THING that God had done!
Jonah was quite stubborn at this point however! BINGO, another quality of self-pity: STUBBORNNESS! Jonah exaggerates greatly all the things that he thinks he has been cheated on ... HERE’S ANOTHER TRAIT OF SELF-PITY: EXAGGERATION! The stubborn exaggeration shows itself in this verse very clearly! God had allowed Jonah a blessing when he didn't deserve it, like Nineveh, but Jonah missed the BOAT! God now tries the WORM next ... and still Jonah worms his way out of being repentant!
God outright asks him if he has a real reason to be angry at the little vine? In Jonah's state of mind he plays out the self-pity to the bitter end! This is the sorry state of the individual who chooses, YES, CHOOSES to EXPERIENCE SELF-PITY! Too many “I’s” made him blind!
There is absolutely NO REASON FOR A CHRISTIAN TO live in self-pity!
· God has been more gracious to us than we ever deserve!
· We have more wonderful things than most people on the earth and we cry around over the price of gasoline and little petty things!
· Or we get angry because God blessed someone else more than us, or we feel we struggle more than anyone else!
· The TRUTH IS WE CAN COUNT OUR MANY BLESSINGS ANYTIME! QUICK ... NAME THAT TUNE - OR TESTIMONY!
The book ends with God attempting to reason with Jonah and show him that he ought to SHOUTING from the mountain for God's patience and compassion rather than pining away over self-pity! God had the first word ...and now he gets the last, but this will always be the case!
Sometimes the best thing to do is SURRENDER!
· Our bitterness
· Our jealousy
· Our anger
· Our exaggeration
· Our stubbornness
· Our isolation
· Our thanklessness
· Our concept of fair play
· Our pride
· Our self-pity!
· Our LIVES to Christ! TRUST HIM!
There doesn't seem to be recorded a response to God from Jonah, but since he wrote the book we can assume he came around at some point ... and to have portrayed himself like this took a lot of humbling, especially knowing others would read the story; in other words, HE FINALLY CAME AROUND!
I'll bet he was a happier prophet for it too! Just think of what it took to get him to turn:
· A fish first!
· Then a vine second
· Then a worm, (sounds like fishing backwards!)
· Then the heat!
Could Jonah have avoided all of them ... YES! Obedience initially would have kept him from the process! God not only had a message for NINEVEH, BUT FOR THE MAN JONAH TOO! God builds a man when He is building that man's ministry! They go together!
What was the final point of all this? GOD WAS TRYING TO GET JONAH TO PRAISE HIM FOR THE WAY HE WORKS IN THE WORLD AND THE INDIVIDUAL!!
· Praise and self-pity to do not cohabit together!
· Praise would finally break the anger ... and the self-pity.
· Self-pity by its nature is SELFISHNESS!
· Praise by its nature is SELFLESS!
Think of the PRAISE Jonah could have given ... HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF SOULS SAVED IN JUST 3 DAYS OF MINISTRY!
So, remember that praise was necessary, pity was nonsense!
· Running away FROM God only secures more pain and emptiness ... and sometimes greater bitterness than running TO God!
· Running TO God will land you in His arms of forgiveness, mercy, grace, love, joy, and eternal life!
· Running WITH God teaches us that He is a God of the Second Chance.
· Running AGAINST God can cause us to lose everything.
A great prophet named Jonah struggled with self-pity ... and almost lost everything because of it! It consumed his joy, his love for God and others, his motivation for ministry, his perspective on others, and his view of himself!
In the end, self-pity robs YOU of everything worth praising God for ... how about you ... are you having a party with no one else invited?
Self-pity is a lonely affair!
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