Extending Beyond

“When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.” Jonah 3:10

As parents, we have all extended judgment on our children when they have disobeyed causing us to take action to discipline, teach and mold their lives. Likewise, at some point as parents we have all issued punishment to our children only to relent from the full degree of punishment we originally promised. We might have shortened the time of grounding or given back a privilege earlier than stated. Why? Most likely, we saw a remorseful and repentant heart and act on that attitude. By changing our initial punishment for our children we are neither condoning disobedience nor changing our mind about the infraction, but simply responding to their heart of reconciliation. If during that time we continued to witness an unchanged heart, the full extent of the punishment would be carried out.

I believe God as Father works in the same attitude in our lives. His discipline will always be aligned with His love for us and our response to Him. He will give us a certain timeline in which to respond before He acts on our disobedience. Even in Ninevah, with all of their wickedness and evil ways He gave them a caveat in which to repent. ‘Yet forty days and Ninevah will be overthrown.’ Jonah 3:4. The forty day span was their time to turn. It was their caveat of grace which they could have ignored but instead they responded with repentance, gratitude and hope in a forgiving God.

‘Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!’ Isaiah 30:18. I love the definition of ‘long for’ as stated in my thesaurus. It states, ‘longing for is extending in time or space beyond what is considered normal, reasonable desirable.’

That is our God…extending beyond….