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.