stillwater on miller lane

This week we learned about the prophet, Jonah, he has always been one of my favorites! Why??? Jonah is just like me, he has the same unwilling spirit that I have when God calls me to do something that I just don't think I should have to do! Maybe the work God wants me to do is painful, maybe it is thru a period of suffering that I can be drawn closer to the one who can make me whole, but I don't always see what God sees, and I run from the pain and the change, because, honestly, change can be very scary! That's why I love Jonah, he runs from God, he runs as far and fast as he can in the opposite direction, sounds like something I have done! I can relate to Jonah, I understand his frustration at God, why would God send me to Nineveh, those people are not good enough for God, why not just get rid of them, the world would be a much better place. Jonah refuses to do what God knows must be done, and he runs. Somehow, God always seems to get our attention though, and in Jonah's case, he simply cannot ignore God any longer, and finally he agrees to go to Nineveh. But even after he is there, and he has preached God's message and told the people they must change their ways, he refuses to offer any forgivness, even though God has forgiven Jonah for running from him. How often do I do that, how often do I quickly accept forgiveness from others, yet refuse to offer even the smallest hint of forgiveness to those who ask for it? Like Jonah, I often refuse to see God's grace at work in myself, and in others, and I miss the whole point! Jonah is so angry that God has chosen to forgive the people of Nineveh, he wants God to punish them, they deserve to be punished because those people have hurt Jonah, and he wants revenge. He is blinded by his own anger, and cannot see that God's saving love is not just for him, but for every person in creation, even for those who have hurt us in the past. What do we do when those who have hurt us repent and change? To often we stay angry, which really only hurts us, we carry our anger and bitterness throughout our lives, and refuse to do the hard work of forgiveness.
I have had to do the hard work of forgiveness in my life, with someone who hurt me deeply and often. For a long time I punished that person for their choices and actions, but really I was punishing myself and those closest to me, because in my refusal to forgive I became a person I would not recognize today, someone full of anger and spite, I didn't have room for God's grace and I had no idea how to extend that to someone else. But through a long and hard process of growth in my relationship with God, with people around me to hold me accountable, I was able to learn true forgiveness, and it has changed my life! I have joy and peace in my life, love and laughter have made their way into my heart again when I didn't think that was ever possible again. Through God's grace and his constant and tireless walk with me, my life has been transformed into something I could never have imagined two years ago, and only God could do that!! Through Jesus we have salvation in action, where do you need to see through God's eyes in your life today??
Heather