Confessions

Confessions come hard. This one is really difficult. I have to confess that I’ve acted like Jonah.
Jonah didn’t have a whole lot going for him. I imagine his story going like this. (Remember, this is just my imagination).
One day Jonah was sitting in his house doing his daily chores. He was feeling pretty good about himself because he was rocking the whole prophet business. He was respected, a little feared maybe. He was obeying all the rules and regs and feeling good. Then, God says “Jonah, I got a job for you. Go tell the people of Nineveh they need to repent.” Jonah wrinkles up his shaggy eyebrows and says “I just remembered I have to head out Tarshish and visit my auntie. I haven’t seen her in a long time and she might die any day. Surely, this whole Nineveh thing can wait awhile.” So off he goes on a ship in the opposite direction of where God told him to go.
See, this is where the story gets bad. What kind of moron would do exactly the opposite of what God TOLD him to do? I’ve always liked thinking I would never do something that defiant. Because, you know, I’m a good Bible study girl. I’m rocking the whole read your Bible every day, listen to the right music, talk right thing. Umhmm, just like Jonah.
So, Jonah’s on the boat and God outs him. I like that his shipmates don’t immediately dump him. They tried really hard to get back to land before they dumped him. That’s awful nice of them considering they were idol worshipping heathens and Jonah was a prophet of the Lord most high. They finally dump him. He gets swallowed by a whale. He repents. He gets spewed up. He goes to Nineveh and starts rocking the whole prophet business again. He does such a good job that even the king repents. But, when Jonah sees that God has mercy on them, he gets mad, REALLY mad. God, being the merciful God He is helps Jonah to understand what happened. The Bible ends the story with God’s explanation. I wonder what Jonah’s reaction was.
When I realized that I was acting like Jonah, I was embarrassed. How many times have I been shown mercy and grace? Yet, here I was throwing a hissy fit. All around me, the heathens were offering to help. I was so caught up in my self that I missed it. The stench of fish puke seemed to be following me.
The word says we are to confess to one another. Here is my confession to my brothers and sisters. I acted like Jonah. I am praying I don’t do it again. I think I share a fatal flaw with him though. That flaw is pride. But even though I have that flaw, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me” (Jonah 2:2). Our God is an awesome God. He rejoices when we realize what goobers we are return to him. So even though we have to figure out how to get the fish smell off of us, he will forgive us and love us.
I used to think Jonah was a loser. Now I know Jonah was just a man and I am just a woman. We have more in common than I ever knew.