Suffering: Tough Assignments, Like Jonah
The Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”...
[Jonah] said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”...
But the Lord said, “Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons, who cannot discern between their right hand and their left…?”
Jonah 4:4, 9, 10-11 (NKJV)
Jonah hated his assignment from God. The Ninevites were pagan aggressors, and they'd harmed the people of Israel.
To make matters worse, they worshipped idols. How could they possibly deserve mercy? Why would the Lord send Jonah to help them?
'For as the heavens are higher than the Earth,
So are My Ways higher than your ways,
And My Thoughts than your thoughts' (Isaiah 55:9).
'This is good and acceptable in the Sight of God our Savior, Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth' (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
'You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father Who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?' (Matthew 5:43-45).
'God demonstrates His Own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us' (Romans 5:8).
Actors, models, and talent for Christ:
Like Jonah, you have a tough assignment:
To walk among an ungodly culture,
To work in the strangest of mission fields,
To rise and shine on dark stages and screens,
To lead lost sheep toward the True Shepherd,
To share hope and a path they haven’t known,
To give Bread and the fruit of God’s Spirit,
As ambassadors for Christ in media!
Unlike Jonah, you go forth willingly on an assignment that isn't easy, but the toughest jobs have the best endings:)
Suffering: Tough Assignments, Like Jonah (Part 41)
* Short article: What should we learn from the life of Jonah? Who was Jonah in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org
NOTE: God is my Ghostwriter. If what I write is good, it’s from God! We’re ALL called to be actors (action stars) for Jesus. We’re ALL called to models of Jesus, and we ALL have gifts, talents, and callings from God– to multiply them in the world for His glory.
P.S. NO DEVOTION, PREACHER, or SERMON… can begin to replace personal time in the Bible. I wholeheartedly and clear-headedly recommend READING THE BIBLE DAILY.
WARNING: Don’t focus on favorite verses, because out of context, they’re often misinterpreted. I plead with you to READ AT LEAST 1 BIBLE CHAPTER DAILY. How long does it take? An average of 5 to 10 minutes!