Am I Jonah?

Nº 165 weekly devotions to refresh your soul by Dr. Dan Bolin - September 28, 2021

“God is both too holy and too loving to either destroy Jonah or to allow Jonah to remain as he is, and God is also too holy and too loving to allow us to remain as we are.” - Tim Keller

The book of Jonah seems unfinished. The story unfolds with the prophet running from God’s command. He encounters a fierce storm, survives a whale’s ‘special delivery', receives a second command, reluctantly obeys, and revival sweeps through Nineveh But, Jonah becomes angry that the city is not destroyed – and that is that. The end. There is no neat bow tied on top, no ‘they all lived happily ever after.’ It just stops. Jonah grumbled because Nineveh avoided God’s judgment, and his anger flared when his shade tree died. The book ends with God’s simple question, “But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?” (Jonah 4:11) So why is that? Why no conclusion or resolution? Maybe it is because we are all Jonahs. Maybe we all have had times when we ran from God, obeyed reluctantly, wished the worst for our enemies, and preferred for our comfort over the needs of others. Like Jonah, the ending is up to us. Are we more concerned about our choices and comfort, or the things that move the heart of God?

Dan Bolin President Refueling in Flight Ministries, Inc