God's Mercy

The story of Jonah with its captivating image of the storm at sea and Jonah's three day stay in the belly of a large fish, concludes with the Ninevites repenting and Jonas angry enough to die.  His preaching worked, God's mercy forgave the Ninevites, but Jonah was not happy with this turn of events.  His value system, evidently did not allow for mercy and he pouted.  Anger clouded his vision as he sat in the burning sun, but God sent a plant to provide shade, and Jonah's mood immediately changed.  But when God sent a worm to kill the plant and it no longer provided shade, Jonah's joy turned to anger again, so bad that he wanted to die. Jonah certainly rode an emotional see-saw,  but
is not Jonah a picture of us?  We accept God's mercy only when it applies to us, not to others,  and when things go against our plans or comfort, we become angry and pout. When that happens it's  time to put on the eyes and heart of God's mercy and put our inner Jonah to rest.
Bro. Rene