Building Shelters

“But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry…There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city.” Jonah 4:1, 5

Here we have one of the first spiritual temper tantrums recorded in the Bible. We have all been in Jonah’s sandals. We have obeyed God in a certain manner that rubs us wrong. We have been told spiritually to forgive someone who in our eyes doesn’t deserve forgiveness. We have been told to continue to minister to someone who we really feel hasn’t worked hard enough to receive mercy. The list goes on and on…

We have all heard our children state that they will do something but they are not going to like it. We can be submissive to God in action and obedience and still not be submissive in the attitude of our heart. An act of obedience without the heart’s submission is not enough for God. Our lack of a submitted heart to God will always come between us and the heart of God. God will always continue to work on the attitude of our heart and not just using us to get the job done.

I believe we have all made shelters for ourselves at some point much like Jonah. We build shelters of bitterness and judgment as we sit in the self appointed shade and judge the actions of others. We watch and see what will happen instead of building shelters of prayer for those people in our lives. The attitudes in our heart are those of condemnation, a passion for judgment and sentencing. Jonah even states God’s character as if he is using it against God. ‘…for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.’ Jonah 4:2

We should all be so very thankful for the character description of God. God cannot be of this character for us and not for others. If God acts the way we want Him to act regarding others we should tighten down the hatches in our own lives as He extends the same to us. Remember two essential truths that the Bible supports:

‘…because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!’ James 2:13

‘…since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.’ Eph. 6:9

Next time we throw a spiritual temper tantrum we must remember not to build shelters lest we live under the same one.