Daily Devotional for Friday, July 31

Jonah in Discomfort

“And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd,” Jonah 4:6.
Set in your ways, describes someone who is rooted in their desire and will to not change even for something that is better. When one of my children was a toddler, he had a favorite blanket he carried with him everywhere we went. The blanket would get wet and tattered in places but he would not stop carrying it even when we offered him another blanket. He carried it until he grew out of it.
Jonah carried around anger, misery and despair to the point that he desired to die even though it was not necessary. Jonah was set on how he felt about the people of Nineveh rather than how the Lord had moved in their hearts and produced repentance in their lives after they heard the Word of the Lord. Jonah became annoyed at the Lord instead of being joyful for the results of preaching God’s Word.
The Lord commanded His churches to go forth and preach the gospel. As you obey God’s command to preach the gospel you should be joyful for how God works in the hearts of those who hear His Word instead of being set on your own feelings.
When your spirit is not in harmony with God’s Word it produces discomfort in your life which can bring misery, fatigue and depression. For a believer there is only discomfort outside of God’s will.

FINAL THOUGHT
God’s work is not about your story, it is about God getting the glory.

Andrew McClung