The Plumbline

God saw what the people did. He saw that they stopped doing evil. So God changed his mind and did not do what he planned. He did not punish the people. Jonah was not happy that God saved the city. Jonah became angry. He complained to the Lord and said, “Lord, I knew this would happen! I was in my own country, and you told me to come here. At that time I knew that you would forgive the people of this evil city, so I decided to run away to Tarshish. I knew that you are a kind God. I knew that you show mercy and don’t want to punish people. I knew that you are kind, and if these people stopped sinning, you would change your plans to destroy them. So now, Lord, just kill me. It is better for me to die than to live.” Then the Lord said, “Do you think it is right for you to be angry?” (Jonah 3:10-4:4) Don't be surprised when God acts 180-degrees from how you thought he'd act! God is always more concerned with our hearts than he is anything else. When the people moved to change their ...

Consider just how emotionally "starved" we are as a society - especially in what should be some of our closest relationships. In most relationships, there is such a tremendous amount of emotional "hunger" which goes totally unmet because we don't take the time to meet the need, we fail to recognize the need exists, or we just simply spend more time looking at our own need. Starvation is simply the feeling of a strong need or desire. When our emotional needs go unmet long enough, we begin to feel a little "starved". Sometimes we use other means to satisfy a genuine emotional hunger than what will really satisfy the hunger. Perhaps we turn to the pursuit of some pleasure - but the pleasure only lasts for a while and then we are back to the hunger again. It may be we pursue something we can possess - such as a new car, new home, or the like - but in time, the "newness" and pleasure produced in the acquisition just leaves us all hungry again....