God's Heart

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 ways instead of continue in their depravity, Jonah was caught a little off-guard. He likely never expected God to just 'spare' their lives and show them all that grace. There are times when we need a whole lot of grace - like those 'belly of the whale' moments, or entanglement with the seaweed moments. It can sometimes be hard for us to realize God treats ALL sinners the same way - with love, grace, and hope. Even the most 'vile' of sin can be forgiven when one seeks his forgiveness. This is how Ninevah responded, and in turn, God seemingly 'changed his mind' about destroying them. Don't for a moment forget God knows the end from the beginning - sinners seeking grace is not a new thing for him!

Jonah thought he knew God's plan, but when the 'plan' changed, he didn't understand how that could happen. If we understand God sending him to deliver the message as a 'warning' that could give them a chance to repent, then we come a little closer to understanding the extreme love of God. He doesn't delight in evil things happening, nor does he delight in the depravity of sin and what it brings with it into a man's life. He does delight in any response that acknowledges the path a man has been traveling hasn't been right and has been destroying lives. He can 'work with' that acknowledgement and the desire to change. The actions that led God to send Jonah were still sinful and destructive to a whole nation. Change was needed and that is exactly what the King of Ninevah and the people acknowledge. God is always open to receiving a repentant soul.

Did God really 'change his mind', or did he know they would repent if given the right opportunity? We don't really know this because we have no other way of describing God's actions than to say he must have had a 'change of mind'. On the outside, that is how it looks. Did God know the message would evoke repentance? I honestly believe he did, but he wasn't through with Jonah's heart yet. It needed a bit more attention. We might think God is going to do something one way, but when he doesn't 'perform' as we thought, we can sometimes question if we heard God correctly. We might question if God really intended to do what he said. We don't need to second-guess God. We need to trust him when he asks us to do things we don't understand - even when they lead to greater things we still don't understand. He has a reason we may not comprehend, but he has a heart we can fully come to appreciate. Just saying!

What have you prepared for us today?

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. No pursuit of pleasure, possession or even profession can help really satisfy the hunger emotionally - it just dulls it for a season. In just a short course of time, we go from being "emotionally high" to being on the "emotional low" all over again. We need to figure out what really satisfies the hunger within and then get after that, not just flit from this or that pursuit with the "hope" it might meet our emotional hunger.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

It should come as no surprise to you that your hunger and thirst, two very powerful "motivators" within, were actually created by God. It was not by accident we were given these "emotional drivers" - they are to serve a purpose. Physical hunger and thirst motivates us to seek out food and drink - in order to replenish our physical bodies. Emotional hunger motivates us to reach out to another. Spiritual hunger motivates us toward worship, praise and prayer. All types of hunger exist - as do all types of thirst. Two motivators - multiple reasons for them. What trips us up most is not recognizing the "type" of hunger or thirst we are experiencing. When we fail to recognize what is really making us hungry, we pursue the wrong stuff to "fill us up"! When God created hunger and thirst, he had in mind the "increasing of capacity". Hunger and thirst take us from an "empty" status toward a "full" or fuller status. These two motivators are then designed to increase our capacity for "more".

This is what makes these two motivators so dangerous - especially when we don't get them figured out very well and pursue the wrong kind of stuff to fill us up! As we well know, satisfaction is sometimes just beyond our reach. We may ask why God created us with emotional motivators that are just a bit outside of our reach in getting them fulfilled. Maybe it is to cause our capacity to be increased! Did you ever stop to think about it that way before? When we attempt to satisfy those emotional desires with something which will "be a close second" to what we really desire and need, it never increases our capacity - in fact, it diminishes it! Whatever doesn't drive us to increase will eventually cause us to shrink in our capacity! Anytime we "settle" for something outside of God's best for us, we are falling just short of the thing he has prepared specifically for us. We "settle" in life a lot - spiritually, emotionally, and physically. In relationships, in life-choices, and in investment of the things we value the most like time, talent and our treasures. It is this idea of "settling" which brings "second-best" into view. I had to get to a place where I was thoroughly disgusted with "second-best" in my life! In reaching that spot, God was able to take the desires of hunger and thirst to a new level. It is often just barely out of reach until we begin to resist the urge to satisfy our hunger and thirst with anything short of what God has in store for us.

Satisfying our hunger and thirst with anything less than what God intends causes us such emotional upheaval, does it not? Why do we still pursue these things? Maybe because we just haven't developed a "trust" in the purpose for our hunger and thirst. We don't "trust" the hunger and thirst to drive us toward the right stuff - so we settle for what we figure will be a good or suitable substitute. Anything less than God's best for us will always be a poor substitute - as hard as we try, nothing quite satisfies like the things he has prepared ahead of time for us. All he is waiting for in bringing those things into our lives is for our capacity to be increased a little. Instead of getting the "quick fix" the next time, maybe we'd do well to ask God to give us the capacity to handle what he has prepared for us! Just sayin!