Devotion 2: Don’t Be A Jonah!
Sierra Combs
A few years ago while sitting down to dinner with my family, we went around the table and discussed which person from the Bible we most identified with. As soon as the question was asked, I knew my answer. In fact, it was something that had smacked me in the face as a middle schooler at winter camp, when my youth pastor spoke about him. As a lifelong church kid who went to dozens of camps and heard hundreds of middle and high school sermons, I really only remember this one, because he was me. Jonah.
It is slightly embarrassing to admit, because while Jonah is relatable, it is not really ever for positive reasons. This is the guy who ran from God, who argued and complained, and who sulked when things didn’t go his way. As much as I hate to admit it, I saw myself in him then, and I can still sometimes see it now. I know what it is like to hear God's call and hesitate or flat-out disobey, or to want to avoid the hard assignments. Worst of all, I know what it is like to think, “They don’t deserve it,” and then grumble when God’s mercy doesn’t fit into my idea of fairness. I walked away from that middle school winter camp with a heavy dose of conviction and the internal pep-talk telling myself, “Don’t be a Jonah.” It has stayed with me ever since. The best part of Jonah’s story, and mine too, is that God’s power isn’t limited by our weaknesses and failures. Even when Jonah’s heart wasn’t right, God’s message still broke through, and an entire city was transformed.
If you have your Bible with you, I encourage you to read Jonah chapter 3. After his detour in the belly of the fish, Jonah finally obeys. He goes to the violent and godless city of Nineveh and delivers the bare minimum of a sermon. “Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!'” (Jonah 3:4). That was it! That was the sermon, and yet, the impossible happens. The entire city repented, from the common people all the way up to the king himself.
Jonah 3:6-9 tells us that “The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, 'By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.'” Look back to verse four and those eight words, and I think you will agree that it was not Jonah’s passion, eloquence, or love for the Ninevites that led them to repentance. He was just the mouthpiece. Ultimately, it was God’s Word that pierced through hardened hearts and reached the ones whom Jonah had deemed unreachable and undeserving. The power was in God’s message.
What an encouraging thing it is to know that God’s Word doesn’t depend on our perfection, and the power to change hearts is His alone! Jonah’s heart was half in it at best, but God’s Word carried full power and even through a reluctant and grumpy prophet, God brought revival. Like Jonah, we don’t have to be flawless messengers. God isn’t waiting for us to have the perfect words, the perfect attitude, or the perfect faith before He can use us. He simply asks us to be faithful and obey. When we share His truth to our friends, family, or even someone who seems totally uninterested, we can trust that His Word will carry its own weight. When God speaks, walls fall! He delights to use even the most reluctant of messengers, people like Jonah, and people like me.