What are the difficult things that you’ve walked through? Have you lost someone from a death that made grief a cruel interloper, too real and too unkind? Have you struggled with poor grades, limited opportunities and rejections from universities, causing you to be gun shy from pursuing higher education? Did you grow up in a highly dysfunctional family, maybe around family members with painful personality disorders? Have you lived with the consequences of poor financial decisions that led to bankruptcy, house foreclosure, eviction, etc.? 

Jonah is an interesting book in the Old Testament, and the spark notes go something like this: God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh, and he runs away from God’s directive, booking passage on a ship heading to Tarshish. A life-threatening storm ensues, and the sailors toss Jonah overboard to save themselves. A giant fish swallows Jonah and pukes him up three days later when God again tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach repentance. Jonah does this, and the city repents, which makes Jonah mad. He props himself on a nearby hill, waiting to see what will happen to Nineveh. God grows a plant to make some shade for Jonah, sends a worm to eat the plant, and finally a blasting hot wind. Jonah is cranky about all of this and lets God know how angry he is about the whole Nineveh fiasco, wanting the city to undergo God’s judgment. This little book is filled with many curious events and thoughts, but here are a few simple things for your consideration and application.