20241214

When he takes away

Jonah 4:1-11

Jonah 4:1 Jonah was extremely upset and became furious.
Jonah 4:2 He prayed to Yahveh: “Please, Yahveh, isn’t this what I thought while I was still in my own country? That’s why I ran away toward Tarshish in the first place. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, with very faithful love, and one who relents from sending disaster.
Jonah 4:3 And now, Yahveh, take my throat from me, because it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah 4:4 Yahveh asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Jonah 4:5 Jonah left the city and found a place east of it. He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.
Jonah 4:6 Then Yahveh God appointed a plant, and it grew over Jonah to provide shade for his head to rescue him from his trouble. Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.
Jonah 4:7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.
Jonah 4:8 As the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head so much that he almost fainted, and he wanted his throat to die. He said, “It’s better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah 4:9 Then God asked Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “Yes, it’s right!” he replied. “I’m angry enough to die!”
Jonah 4:10 So Yahveh said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night.
Jonah 4:11 But should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?”

When he takes away

Jonah had no real reason to be angry at God because of the worm. Jonah did not plant that plant. God did. God did not owe Jonah another comfortable day.

You and I have to come to grips with God’s sovereignty. He does things according to his plan, and he does not have to get our approval to do it.

This applies to our prayer list as well. We have a list of people who we ask God to heal and save every day. But God in his sovereignty does not heal and save these people every day. He has reasons for what he does, and reasons for what he doesn’t do. At the end of the day, we need to evaluate what happened and what did not happen on the basis of God’s sovereignty. We need to be able to say what Job did when he lost everything: “The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away. May the name of the LORD be blessed!” (Job 1:21 NET).

Read the whole sermon here.

Get any of Jeff’s books here!