Jonah 4:10-11
“Then the Lord said, ‘You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness,[a] not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?’”
I wake up every morning wishing I could sleep for just five more minutes. The sound of my alarm triggers every angry bone in my body as it reminds me of all the things I have to do.
Whether you are pushed by your parents to go to church or you are begged by your friends to hang out with people you don’t know, we are all constantly being pulled in a billion different directions and that alarm is what starts it all.
This persistent alarm reminds me of Jonah and his anger at God when he was told to go to Nineveh. Here’s a short recap of the book of Jonah: Jonah was so annoyed by God’s call that he tried to run away. Yet God chased after him with a big fish so Jonah could complete his mission to save the Ninevites. Jonah threw a tantrum in the outskirts of the city because of how compassionate God was being to a sinful group of people.
The end of Jonah’s story revolves around this huge leaf God gave to him and how fast God got rid of it. God, trying to prove his point, gave Jonah a leaf where he could be protected from the hot sun. Not even a full day goes by and God kills that leaf! Like me with my alarm going off every morning, Jonah’s comfort was ripped away from him. And this was God’s response;
“Then the Lord said, ‘You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness,[a] not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?’”
The Lord called Jonah to empathize with Him. If we can understand and feel the pain and frustration God feels, getting out of our comfort zone, or in my case out of bed, should be easier. We need a strong motive that will push us to do things we are apprehensive about.
Sympathy is seeing a problem; empathy is feeling the pain of a problem. When we empathize with God we are able to have a completely new perspective on what God is calling us to do.
When is the last time you put God’s desires ahead of your own? If you are like me, then it has been a while. It is difficult to step out in faith and teach others about the gospel when you have a lack of motivation.
Today, take some time and reflect on what God wants you to empathize with Him about. You may find yourself waking up before the alarm even goes off because of this passion and calling that only comes from empathizing with God.