God asked Jonah pointed questions so he would bring everything he felt, experienced, thought, and internalized about “them”—the Ninevites—into the open before Him. God wasn’t causing Jonah to revisit a painful place without also providing the opportunity for healing.
Healing was waiting for Jonah, but he would have had to do the hard work of acknowledging his need and accepting the solution God provided to rid him of the rigor mortis of heart he carried toward them.
The book of Jonah, like the rest of Scripture, encourages us to consider the condition of our own hearts. Reflection then leads to a decision about what to do with what we’ve learned about ourselves. You can choose to carry on as you are and remain wounded. Or you can choose to do the strenuous work of actively seeking healing.
If you stay before God and process through the difficult emotions connected to painful history, you will find deliverance. Transformation could happen in an instant. He could also allow you to walk through the hands-on, in-the-trenches, slow-and-steady metamorphosis. Regardless of His methods, if you lean into Him, you will, in the end, have a changed heart!
Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. (Jonah 1:1-2 KJV)
In the Master’s Service,
Author/Pastor Michele D Robertson
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matthew 11:28-29 (KJV)