“Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil” (Jonah 4:2).
Often I hear of people speaking of Jonah fleeing in disobedience because he was afraid of the people of Nineveh. I am aware that the wickedness of those Ninevites is hard to imagine. They were violent, wicked, murderous, and enemies of the people of God, but I do not believe that is why Jonah fled in the opposite direction of Nineveh. Clearly Jonah explained to the Lord why he fled, and we are privileged to listen in on that conversation. God saw the genuine repentance of the city (Jonah 3:10). The prophet became furious when He sensed that God was going to forgive them and not destroy them (Jonah 4:1). Jonah said he fled because somehow he just knew that this was going to happen. There are a dozen lessons for each of us. For now the great lesson for me today is that I would learn that God’s grace that saved me is fully sufficient to save anyone else who truly comes to Him.
For today: Aren’t you glad that God is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness? Me, too!