Lessons from Jonah

He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." Jonah 4:2

Jonah had already fled from the Lord when he was supposed to go to Ninevah. He had been swallowed and spit out by a huge fish and had gone into Ninevah and warned them all of God's wrath. I would imagine that by this time Jonah was exhausted and in need of a bath. Ninevah heeded Jonah's warning and decided to plea for God's mercy. Jonah was mad! He threw a fit, telling God that he knew this would happen. He had gone through all this trouble and God had granted them mercy when they did not deserve it. Exactly!
Lessons learned:
1) Of course God had mercy on them even though they did not deserve it. That is what God's grace is. Grace is the unmerited favor of God towards humans. If it was deserved, it would not be grace! Grace is one of God's defining characteristics. He is the God of grace.
2) Could it be that there are times when we are acting just like Jonah? I have looked back over my actions the last few months and have seen some evidence of my own whining. "Why do they get everything? Why am I being tested? Why is the devil picking on me?" It could possibly be that the problems and testing is not because God is testing us or the devil is tempting us. Some of the problems come from our wrong thinking. Grace is for anyone who is willing to receive it. Have we asked for it? Have we received it? Have we been too busy complaining to see the mercy and grace that is bestowed on us daily?
3)"you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." Sometimes I think we forget this part. I know I do. God is on our side! He is gracious and compassionate. He is slow to anger, and He loves us abundantly. He relents from sending calamity. He takes care of us. If we take to time to concentrate on God's goodness and understand that there is no problem that He cannot fix, we will be much more thankful.
In essence... Be thankful for grace, be graceful towards others, no whining, be thankful, remember that God is GOOD...