Jonah and the Worm

I recently went for a run and was thinking about the story of Jonah.  Fast forward through the part that you heard in Sunday school so often it’s boring now to the part that is rarely discussed.  Usually the Sunday school version ends with God saving Nineveh and everyone leaving and giving mom and dad their construction paper cut outs of whales, with a little guy in the belly and depending on the age range, probably colored a bit oddly.  It is true, God did save Nineveh but what is rarely discussed is Jonah’s tantrum. 

Jonah gets mad at God.  He is mad because in his mind he could have saved himself a trip and a brief stint in the belly of a whale.  He goes to the hillside to watch Nineveh just in case God changes his mind and he can watch the proverbial lightning strike.  There God provides him with a tree to give him shade.  Jonah likes the plant, they’re friends.  Then God also provides a worm and a scorcher of a day.  The worm kills the tree and the scorcher of a day makes it so uncomfortable to Jonah that he gets even crankier.  Like many of our kids he gets really over dramatic and tells God he wishes he was dead because God took his plant away from him. 

What I find so interesting about this story is that God provided the worm.  I looked up the word provided for fun.  The definition is to make a preparation to fit a need.  Jonah needed both the worm and the hot day.  In essence, God provided the conditions that would show what was in Jonah’s heart to give him the opportunity to deal with it.  What I find equally interesting is we don’t know if Jonah repented or not.  The story stops abruptly. 

Sometimes I wonder if the story is less about hiding from God, running from Him or even His redemption but more about what is in our hearts.  We see Jonah’s heart contrasted with that of the King of Nineveh’s.  Jonah quickly forgets the fact that God completely saved him from dying out at sea and that it is that same compassion that he complains to God about is the same compassion that saved him less then a week before.  In a short time Jonah’s heart goes from praising God to being so mad at God that he says he wish he were dead.  I don’t know what God did when he heard this but when I hear my kids say stuff like this I roll my eyes and think, “oh brother!” 

So as enlightening as this commentary on the book of Jonah is there are some personal implications.  As I was running I was reflecting on the worms that God has provided in my life.  Recently, I started to notice that things were getting hard and I was struggling.  In essence, I started to feel the heat of the day.  I started to realize that I had an incredible amount of pride in my heart.  I was so proud of myself for pretty much anything and everything I could be proud of except my pride in and of itself. 

Pride is an interesting thing to repent of because it’s easy to just say a quick, “I’m sorry.”  However, to really repent and humble yourself can sometimes be a completely separate thing.  I think I still have a journey to learn how to truly humble myself.  Until I learn of all the areas that I have pockets of pride in my heart I pray for His grace to truly come to life with a humble heart and until then pray that God will provide more worms to eat up the plants that allow me to be comfortable and not see the areas of my heart that are not so pretty.