God wanted to enlarge Jonah’s heart—and he wants to enlarge your heart as well.  As you think about your heart today, would you ask the Lord to search you and examine you?  As you think about your life, who are those people—those sinners—who you secretly hope will experience God’s judgment?

Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”  And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”  Jonah 4:1-4.

The question that God posed to His pouting prophet is piercing: “Do you do well to be angry?”  Generally speaking, ministry mouthpieces would be exceedingly excited at such a revival but not Jonah.  He was greatly displeased that God chose to be merciful to the nasty Ninevites.  Why?

Why would God’s mercy to Nineveh create anger in Jonah rather than joy?  The text seems to indicate that Jonah both expected and desired pagan Nineveh to get what they deserved—a piece of God’s hot wrath: “Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.”

Very simply, Jonah was angry that his God would choose to be gracious to those sinners.  Let that sink in for a moment; Jonah the prophet was angry that these particular sinners (Assyrians!) would be recipients of divine grace.

As Jonah checks himself into his hotel room and gets his popcorn ready for the light show (fire and brimstone), God appoints a plant to grow up and provide some undeserved shade.  The text says that Jonah was exceedingly glad for the plant.  We have seen that our prophet has some wild mood swings—extreme anger when sinners repent, and now extreme gladness because of an unpredictable plant.  Yet, almost as soon as the plants emerges it suddenly dies, and so with it Jonah’s glad heart.

God also “appoints” a scorching east wind which beats down on Jonah’s head and drives him into further infuriation.  It might seem at this point that God was playing cruel games with Jonah—but in reality, like a great surgeon He was probing Jonah’s small heart.

Again, God asks Jonah a very similar question:  “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?”  Jonah responds in the affirmative, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.”

It is here that God puts all of his cards on the table, not only for Nineveh, but the whole world of lost sinners: “And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.  And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

Jonah was preoccupied with a plant.  God was moved toward lost sinners.  Jonah was concerned with creature comforts.  God was concerned with repentance and grace.  Jonah was easily irritated, God is steadfast.  Jonah was hard-hearted, God is love.  Jonah was hoping for a firework display, God delights to show mercy.  Yet, despite Jonah’s sinful swings, God also moved toward Jonah.  The same grace that forgave the Ninevites moves toward the prophet and toward us.

God wanted to enlarge Jonah’s heart—and he wants to enlarge your heart as well.  As you think about your heart today, would you ask the Lord to search you and examine you?  As you think about your life, who are those people—those sinners—who you secretly hope will experience God’s judgment?

Would you ask that he would grant to you the same compassion of Christ—that we would look upon the lost with love and sorrow, not disdain?

Would you ask for the Holy Spirit to enable you to look to the interests of others first?

Would you ask the Lord to preoccupy your heart not with creature comforts but with the gospel?

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you”  Isaiah 30:18.

Robby Grames is a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is pastor of Colfax Center PCA in Holland, Iowa.