Keeping Your Perspective

-


Scripture

Jonah 4:9   But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.”  10 Then the LORD said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night.  11 And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

Observation

Jonah had preached to the prophesied to the people of Nineveh regarding their destruction. Unfortunately, as far as Jonah was concerned, they repented and then God in his compassion decided not to destroy them. Jonah had been gaining God’s perspective along the way because he had told the Lord that he feared that he would have compassion on the people. Jonah was not concerned about the people but about himself — his own reputation.

God provided a bush to provide comfort for Jonah, but then it was attacked by a worm and it died. Jonah showed more emotion and compassion for the bush that died than he did for all the people of Nineveh. He threw a little tantrum before the Lord and said that he was “angry enough to die” over the bush!

Get a little perspective Jonah! You plead with God over a bush and yet are willing to see more than 120,000 people die all because you want to feel good about yourself.

Application

Sadly, we may find ourselves responded just like Jonah.

We have to keep our perspective as we move through life. There will be moments when we will be discouraged — as if the bush were taken from us. We can be angry about the bush, and yet we must evaluate where it fits in the grand scheme of things. There is a bigger picture which God sees and understands and we are invited into his perspective.

Our focus in life must be on uniting with his perspective. This happens as we get to know the Lord better and become one with his work and movement in the world. The things that may not seem to make sense to us, will make sense from his perspective. Throwing tantrums when we don’t get what we think we want makes no sense. God’s planning, time and perspective are what make sense and he sees the greater need. We are to be partners together with God in his mission in the world.

As we seek God’s face, we gain his perspective. His ways are higher than our ways and therefore we must trust in him and his leading.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to gain your perspective. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a ti...
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her ...
Read more

On Grief and A Flute Player

-
Scripture: Matt. 9:23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, Matt. 9:24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Matt. 9:25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. Matt. 9:26 And the report of this spread throughout that district. Observation: This is a simple story which we have heard or read numerous times. Jesus heals the little girl and the people rejoice. But at the moment in which he arrives at the home he encounters the professional mourners. These are the flute players, the ones who have come to make a great noise about the child’s death. It is the flute player that testifies to the fact that she is truly dead. Also, flutes were generally employed when it came to the death of a child. The whole community would therefore understand that it is a child who has died in this home. The flute player is doing the job they have ...
Read more