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Jonah 4

The Lord Shows Concern for Nineveh

4 But Jonah was very upset. He became angry. ² He prayed to the Lord and said, “Lord, isn’t this exactly what I thought would happen when I was still at home? That’s why I was so quick to run away to Tarshish. I knew that you are gracious. You are tender and kind. You are slow to get angry. You are full of love. You are a God who takes pity on people. You don’t want to destroy them. ³ Lord, take away my life. I’d rather die than live.”

⁴ But the Lord replied, “Do you have any right to be angry?”

⁵ Jonah left the city. He sat down at a place east of it. There he put some branches over his head. He sat in their shade. He waited to see what would happen to the city.

⁶ Then the Lord God sent a vine and made it grow up over Jonah. It gave him more shade for his head. It made him more comfortable. Jonah was very happy he had the vine. ⁷ But before sunrise the next day, God sent a worm. It chewed the vine so much that it dried up.

⁸ When the sun rose, God sent a burning east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head. It made him very weak. He wanted to die. So he said, “I’d rather die than live.”

⁹ But God said to Jonah, “Do you have any right to be angry about what happened to the vine?”
“I do,” he said. “In fact, I’m angry enough to die.”

¹⁰ But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this vine. But you did not take care of it. You did not make it grow. It grew up in one night and died the next. ¹¹ Nineveh has more than 120,000 people. They can’t tell right from wrong. Nineveh also has a lot of cattle. So shouldn’t I show concern for that great city?”



Thank You Lord for showing concern for us. You know we are a great nation with many sins, but we will continue to turn to you Lord and repent. Your compassion for us is amazing. Like Jonah, we wonder, why care sometimes, we have messed up so badly. Will God forgive us for the violence and evil against our people? Will we ever show compassion for the poor? Are we destined to always learn the hard way? Can't we do better? God has faith in us. If we know better, we do better. We have to continue to reach out to those who don't know better. We don't get to feel superior over them. We don't judge them for their mistakes because we are never blameless in the situation. Our faith in God to prevail in all situations is a must. We must remember that we placed nothing here. Not the home, job, car, nothing. All of it is by the grace of God. I thank God for the good things in my life. For the constant things that are steady and continually god for me. The knowledge that I have absolutely no control over any of it is comforting and frustrating. Nothing I do will change the course of events that are in my present and future. I must live in the present and thank God for any and every comfort and joy that has been placed in my life. Thank you Lord for your blessings. Thank You Lord for keeping me focused on my love. You won't let me turn away, even when I try. I think, there's no way this is going to happen, and Lord you seem to say, just stay and do what I am telling you to do. What exactly I can do, I just don't know, but stay I will and do what I can. I may think there is nothing that can be done in this situation, but obviously Lord, you see it differently. I love you Lord for seeing worth in me. I will do my best to make you Proud of Me. Blessings are abundant from the Lord. I Love You.