Be Gracious & Compassionate

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He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. —Jonah 4:2 (NASB1995)

The LORD instructed Jonah to go and preach to Nineveh, instead, he went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD. (See Jonah 1:3 NLT) What a futile pursuit to try to escape His Presence. The ship he boarded encountered a storm, and Jonah had the men throw him into the sea. The LORD had a great fish swallow Jonah. (See Jonah 1:4,12,17) Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish. Then the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land. (See Jonah 2:1,10) This series of events, came about because of Jonah’s disobedience, and hard heart toward his enemies.

In Jonah 3:1-2 (NLT), the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.” This time Jonah obeyed the voice of the LORD, and the people of Nineveh believed in God and repented and God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. (Jonah 3:5,10) This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. (Jonah 4:1 NLT) Let us be consistently gracious and compassionate, like our great God. Be slow to anger and show abundant lovingkindness to all.

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