WEEKLY REFLECTION by Pastor Lap Dinh on Jonah‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬-‭11

“So the Lord God designated a plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to relieve him of his discomfort. And Jonah was overjoyed about the plant. But God designated a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered. And when the sun came up God designated a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint, and he begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life!” But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to the point of death!” Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant, for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not also have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 people, who do not know the difference between their right hand and their left, as well as many animals?”” ‭‭Jonah‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬-‭11‬ ‭NASB2020

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Like Jonah, we may be overjoyed by the comfort that the Lord brought to us, and over-angry to the point of death simply because it was taken away. Jonah was too focused on his felt needs and totally blind to the real needs of others—those who do not know what is right and wrong, who are in need of knowing the Lord and receiving salvation. The Book of Jonah ended with a question. So I'd like to end this with a question: How often were we upset with someone (who does not know Jesus and the truth) in restaurants, hotels, schools, offices, among relatives, or loved ones, simply because they made us uncomfortable, caused disturbance, or took away our personal peace?