Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

When the people of Nineveh heard the news about their impending destruction from God through the prophet Jonah, they heeded his warning and repented. This action did not please Jonah in the slightest. He quotes from psalm 145:8 that the Lord is gracious and merciful and abounding in steadfast love and added that the Lord is ready to relent from punishing (Jonah 4:2). Knowing this it is surprising that Jonah was so upset that Nineveh was not destroyed. And this is where there is a desperate need to keep in step with the Spirit of God. If we were unsure about the experiences of Jonah, he tells us that God responds to prayer and fasting. We don’t know how it works all we know is that when we pray and are earnest in our prayers, God hears, understands and will act. Our God is a personal caring God who is cognisant of how we feel.

However, Jonah’s reaction was typical of most people. Having gone through that entire struggle, spending three nights and three days in the uncomfortable belly of a smelly fish, bathing in its vomit and spending three days walking across the city to deliver the message, he was not happy that God decided to spare them. And sometimes we want the Lord to respond and react how we would.  However, let us remember that the never changing everlasting God, Yahweh, who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow always acts with compassion and always shows mercy. Unlike other gods our God is a merciful God who is slow to ANGER and ABOUNDING IN STEADFAST LOVE. It was at the cross that mercy there was great and grace was free, and it was there my pardoned soul found liberty, right there at Calvary. His grace is sufficient for all our needs today. Read Jonah 4.