Here we have a wonderful window into the heart of God. He relented and had compassion on the Ninevites… and that made Jonah angry! Jonah said, “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful…” (Jon. 4:2). But Jonah was not a gracious and merciful prophet.

God was concerned about the city. He said, “There are 120,000 people in Nineveh, and these people matter to Me!” But Jonah was concerned about the vine. The Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labour, nor did youmake it grow” (4:10). The contrast is striking. Jonah was concerned about the vine. God was concerned about the city.

We are all concerned about the vine—our jobs, homes, investments, and health. We are concerned about the things that bring us comfort and joy. But do we share God’s concern for our cities? It is easy to be deeply concernedabout the vine and yet unmoved by the plight of millions who face eternity without Christ.

Ask God to give you are heart for the cities andfor those who do not yet know Jesus Christ.

Think about the vine, the worm, and the wind in the life of our Lord Jesus.

Jesus chose twelve disciples and called them to be with Him (Mk. 3:14). He had the comfort, joy, and blessing of their companionship. He sent them out and their ministry was blessed with such success that he said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning” (Lk. 10:18).

Then the worm came. The disciples, who had brought Him comfort, joy, and blessing, all forsook Him and fled. Judas betrayed Him with a kiss, Peter denied Him with a curse, and Jesus was plunged into sorrow and loss.

And then the east wind blew. Jesus was scourged, mocked, and crowned with thorns. He was nailed to the cross, and He was plunged into total darkness. And, in His affliction, pain, and distress, He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mat. 27:46).

Why was Jesus forsaken? Because Jesus bore your sins in His body on the tree. The Son of God loved you and gave Himself for you. He endured the worm and the wind so that you could be brought into an eternity under God’s vine.

Can you see God’s love for you in Jesus?

It’s easy to see why God provided the vine for Jonah. God is good. All good gifts come from Him. But why did God send the worm and the wind? What possible good could come from that?

It’s helpful to understand two important Bible words: Justification is how God forgives us through Jesus. Sanctification is how God makes us like Jesus. The first is an event, the second is a process.

God provides for our sanctification through gifts that bring joy, trials that bring sorrow, and experiences that bring pain. God used the worm and the wind to save Jonah from a vine-centred life—from loving God’s gifts more than the God who gives them.

Here are two signs that you may be living a vine-centred life:

1. You are angry with God
“I do well to be angry, angry enough to die” (4:9). Jonah was first angry about Nineveh (4:4). And now, the anger is back. The vine masked Jonah’s problem. Family, friends, money, and success can do that. But, if your greatest joy is in the vine, you will live a vine-centred life. And when the vine is gone, you will be angry toward God.

2. You are losing your reason to live
“It is better for me to die” (4:8). Jonah found such comfort and joy in the vine that when it was gone he no longer felt he had a reason to live. The extraordinary thing is that Jonah is saying this to God who is the reason to live! If your greatest joy lies in God’s gifts rather than in God Himself, then when the gift you cherish most withers, you will lose your reason to live. The reason to live is not the gifts but the Giver.

Do you see any signs that you may have slipped into living a vine-centred life?

Put yourself in Jonah’s shoes. You are feeling miserable and resentful. And here you are, sitting in the sand outside a city you really don’t like. The sun is beating down on you, so you make a shelter. Then God steps in.

The Vine
“The LORD God appointed a plant… that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort” (4:6). The vine was a gift from God, an expression of His kindness. Notice, Jonah was “exceedingly glad because of the plant” (4:6). God’s gift brought comfort, joy, and blessing.

The Worm
“God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered” (4:7). Jonah woke to find that the vine had been chewed up. “God, what are you doing? One day you pour out your blessing, the next day you take it away!” The worm brought sorrow, loss, and disappointment.

What is your worm? You want children, but a child is not born. The person you love is taken from you. Your ministry sees success, but then the worm destroys your good work. The Lord gives. The Lord takes away. That’s what Jonah is learning, and it’s painful.

The Wind
“God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint” (4:8). It’s bad enough to lose your vine. But now the sand was blowing into Jonah’s face, and the sun was beating down. “God, if you are going to take my vine, you might have done it on a cool day.”

What is your vine? Your worm? Your wind? Think about the gifts of God that bring you comfort, joy, and blessing, and thank God for them.

Here are three common reactions to the grace of God:

1. God’s grace makes some people angry
Some folks believe that God must treat everyone the same, opening the door of salvation and waiting to see who will come in. But the Bible speaks of a greater love, in which God takes the initiative. Why did God set His love on you? Because He loved you. No other reason. God extended this saving love to Nineveh. Why Nineveh? Our God does whatever pleases Him (Ps. 115:3). And that made Jonah angry.

2. God’s grace makes some people worship
If you are a Christian, why is it that you believe and someone else in your family does not? Here’s why you believe: God set His love on you. He drew you to Himself. He gave you new life, and you did nothing to deserve it! Apart from God’s grace, you would never have come to Christ. Let God’s grace lead you to worship. You will find yourself asking, “Why me?”

3. God’s grace makes some people pray
If all God could do is open the door of salvation and then leave it up to us, there would be little point in praying for the lost. The reason we pray is that God takes the initiative. If God can swoop into your life uninvited, He can do that for others as well.

God’s grace will either make you angry or lead you to worship and prayer. God gently led Jonah away from being angry about grace and into worship and prayer, which is why he ends his great song of praise with “Salvation belongs to the LORD!” (Jon. 2:9).

Are you more inclined to be angry, worshipful, or prayerful in response to God’s grace?

Why is Jonah complaining to God? What is going on in his heart? “That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish.” This is a marvellous example of undermining your own repentance.

Jonah repented, and God forgave him, but now Jonah wants to explain why he went to Tarshish. He feels that there was some justification, some defence for what he did. As soon as you start explaining why you sinned, you undermine your own repentance.

Repentance says, “I did this. I am sorry, I take full responsibility, and I trust myself to the mercy of God.” Self-justification says, “You need to understand why I did this. There is a good reason. Let me explain my disobedience.”

A great struggle goes on in every human soul between repentance and self-justification. You think, “Well, there’s another side to this. Look at the pressure I was under, the lack of support. It would have been amazing if I hadn’t fallen!”

Does this sound familiar? A man has an affair. He repents. He takes responsibility, and he says he is sorry. But later, he begins to explain himself. And the explanation undermines the repentance.

There’s a subtle change going on in Jonah. He used to see himself as a sinner who finds hope in God. Now he sees himself as a man who can explain the wrongs in his life before God!

“I went to Tarshish, and I know that was wrong, but actually, God, it’s your fault! If You judged the wicked like You should, there wouldn’t have been a problem, but I knew that you are a God who relents from sending calamity. That is why I was so quick to flee.”

When you feel that there is an explanation for your sins, you undermine your own repentance, and you will become angry toward God.

Can you think of a time when you undermined your own repentance with explanations?

Let’s begin by noting something that Jonah did right. “He prayed to the LORD” (4:2). In chapter 1, Jonah was unhappy with God, and he ran from the Lord. In chapter 4, Jonah was unhappy with God, and he prayed to the Lord. That’s progress.

But Jonah’s prayer is a complaint against God—not just about what God does, but about who God is! “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” He is quoting one of the great statements of the character of God. It comes from Exodus 34:6-7, and it was regularly repeated among God’s people as an expression of praise.

But Jonah turns it back to God as a complaint: “God is too slow in dealing with evil.” The people of Nineveh were wicked, and they would return to evil even if they stopped for a time. Jonah was sure of this, and he was right!

A later generation of Ninevites destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel with great brutality. The book of Nahum lays out the excruciating evil that could have been avoided, if only God had destroyed Nineveh. Jonah saw this coming, and God’s mercy made him mad!

Haven’t you wondered about God’s strange providence in ordering the world? Think of the evil and suffering that could have been spared if God had wiped out Hitler or Stalin or Bin Laden early in life. Yet He let them live! Why?

Reflect on the ways God has been gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love in your own life.

You would think that a man who had seen miracles of grace in his own life and in his ministry would be full of praise and thanksgiving. Here we see something different.

Jonah was a mature believer. He was a prophet. He was a missionary. You would think that he would be filled with joy in serving God. But he is angry and frustrated and out of sorts with the God he served.

Jonah was not the only one to experience this. Asaph was the director of worship for King David. He says, “My feet had almost stumbled.” Why? “I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Ps. 73:2-3). It seemed that God was kinder to His enemies than to His friends! So, Asaph said, “All in vain have I kept my heart clean” (73:13).

There is a particular darkness that can come to those who work hardest in the Lord’s service. Resentment towards God is the special temptation of mature believers who serve Him well. It is easy to feel that God owes you.

How is it that we can experience God’s grace in our own lives and ministry and still struggle with the God we love? How is it possible to be in the middle of a great work of God and yet to find no joy in it?

Jonah shows us one of the most common ways in which a mature believer can avoid a God-centred life. You serve God and end up resenting the God you serve.

If you have sacrificed much for Christ, you are likely to experience this trial. And you need to know how to deal with it. We will see how this resentment grew in Jonah’s life and how God dealt with Jonah to deliver him from it.

When have you felt this temptation of resentment towards God?