Jonah grew disgusted and angry, “spewing” to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I told you before you sent me to Nineveh? You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; but I didn’t want you to be that way to the barbaric Assyrians. So take my life from me, Lord, for I’d rather die than deal with the implications and traumas of serving you.” Paraphrase of Jonah 4:1–3
Lord Jesus, there are many men and women in vocational ministry that “get” Jonah’s weariness, disgust, anger, and extreme conflictedness. Today we pray for missionaries and pastors, worship leaders and counselors, teachers and youth leaders—whose stories are different than Jonah’s, but who have “booked tickets for Tarshish.”
Many of them reflect Jonah’s state of heart. In their heads they still own a theology of grace and sovereignty. But in their hearts, they are disconnected and disillusioned, angry and confused. As the “true and greater Jonah,” you alone know the whole story. You know what’s under their anger, compounding their contempt, and fueling their flight. Like the Apostle Paul, they carry traumas inflicted by non-believers, believers, and by the devil himself (2Cor.11:23-33).
Jesus, comfort them with your compassion, refresh them by your Spirit, and provide the counsel they need. Free them from self-pity and from medicating their pain foolishly. Tune their hearts to hear the music of the Gospel more clearly than the lies of the devil, and their own grace-void narration.
Until you return, Satan will relentlessly attack servants of the Gospel. He’ll do anything and everything within his power to bring havoc, heartache, and “hell” to them and their families. Quicken us to pray, and show us how to serve and encourage them, Jesus. Make your beauty, love, presence, and return increasingly precious to all of us. So Very Amen.