Have you ever felt like Jonah pouting under the withered gourd vine? Before you answer, let\u2019s review his story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord called him to go to the city of Nineveh and \u201cpreach\nagainst it, because its wickedness has come up before me.\u201d Rather than obey,\nJonah decided to run. He found a ship headed to Tarshish, paid the fare, and sailed\naway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The trip didn\u2019t go as planned. The Lord sent a great wind,\nand the mariners began throwing the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.\nThen they cast lots to find out who had caused this circumstance. The lot fell\non Jonah, who\u2019d already told them he was running from the Lord. He accepted\nresponsibility and said if they\u2019d cast him into the sea, it would become calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They kept rowing but couldn\u2019t reach land, so they threw him\noverboard\u2014and the raging sea became quiet. You\u2019ve heard what happened next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and\nJonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In that wild place Jonah prayed to the Lord. The Lord heard\nhim and spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out on dry land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t know about you, but I believe those events happened\njust as recorded in the book of Jonah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord again told him to go to Nineveh and preach. This\ntime he went, declaring that in forty days the city would be overthrown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people believed his message from God and proclaimed a\nfast. The king urged the people to \u201ccall urgently on God\u201d and turn from their\nevil ways. \u201cWho knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his\nfierce anger so that we will not perish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God saw their response and spared the city!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.\u201d He was so\nangry that he prayed for God to take his life. Then he went outside the city,\nmade a shelter, and sat in the shade watching to see what would happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I call that pouting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
God prepared a gourd to grow up over Jonah to shadow him, and in the morning he sent a worm that chewed the vine, causing it to wither. Then he sent scorching wind and blazing sun. Jonah grew faint and again wished to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA few thoughts for anyone pouting under a withered gourd vine. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n God said, \u201cDo you have a right to be angry about the vine?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonah said, \u201cI am angry enough to die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can you believe it? I call that a major anger problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lord rebuked the prophet for having pity on the gourd\nand not on the thousands in Nineveh who listened to his preaching and repented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I was young, one of my school teachers often told our\nclass, \u201cDon\u2019t frown. Your face might freeze.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book that bears his name freezes Jonah in that scene,\nunder the withered gourd vine pouting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve been there. Haven\u2019t you? Sitting under a cloud of\ndespair, pouting because of what God did, questioning why he did it that way,\ncomplaining that he could have chosen a better method and outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re there now, stand up before you freeze in that position. Don\u2019t let \u201cpouting under the withered gourd vine\u201d be the defining statement of your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t let \u201cpouting under the withered gourd vine\u201d be the defining statement of your life. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your\nways my ways,\u2019 declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so\nare my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts\u2019\u201d (Isaiah\n55:8-9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Accept that our Sovereign God doesn\u2019t have to explain\nhimself. He does as he pleases and he\u2019s always working on our behalf. We don\u2019t\nhave to understand his purpose to believe he has a purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I call that a reason to praise!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will praise God\u2019s name in song and glorify him with\nthanksgiving\u201d (Psalm 69:30).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Dianne Barker 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Scriptures from NIV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Would you tell me about your pouting-under-the-gourd-vine\nexperience and how God brought you through it to praise his glorious name? And\nplease share this with your friends!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever felt like Jonah pouting under the withered gourd vine? Before you answer, let\u2019s review his story. The Lord called him to go to the city of Nineveh and \u201cpreach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.\u201d Rather than obey, Jonah decided to run. He found a ship headed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[334,39,336,9,335,275],"class_list":["post-928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-a-few-thoughts-for-anyone-pouting-under-a-withered-gourd-vind","tag-anger","tag-complaining-to-god","tag-dianne-barker","tag-jonah","tag-obedience"],"yoast_head":"\n