Hello my loves

Thank you for the engagement on my last post. It was lovely to receive messages from youngers and elders. One of my friends suggested interviewing elders to explore their thought processes, and I think I will do just that … one of these days 😊

A few days ago, I had a conversation with my dad, which warmed my heart ❤️  It was unexpected, and that made it so much more beautiful. We were talking about relationships, and he said he wants me to be happy. He wants me to feel happy within myself but also see with his eyes how happy I am in a relationship. Although on a level I know he wants me to be happy, hearing him say it made it more real; made me more certain.

Anyway, on to the main topic of today. Yesterday I was listening to the book of Jonah. This book has intrigued me for a while. For context, Jonah is a prophet who ministered around 785–760 BCE. God asked him to preach in Nineveh (Mosul, Iraq in modern times), but Jonah did not want to go because he knew God might forgive them. So he went elsewhere, and God caused a storm during which he was swallowed by a fish and eventually redirected to Nineveh. Jonah preached to the people, and they repented. In chapter 4, Jonah becomes livid that Nineveh gets a second chance.

So he prayed, “Lord, didn’t I say before I left home that this is just what you would do? That’s why I did my best to run away to Spain! I knew that you are a loving and merciful God, always patient, always kind, and always ready to change your mind and not punish.

Jonah 4:2 GNT

This made me think, how often are we like Jonah. On one hand, we enjoy the mercies of God, but on the other hand, we want to be the gatekeepers of His mercy. We want to decide who is worthy to receive the same mercy we’ve enjoyed countless times.

Jonah 4:3 GNT Now then, Lord, let me die. I am better off dead than alive.”

I thought Nigerian mums were dramatic, but hello 👋 let me introduce you to the King of Melodrama, *drumroll* Jonah. He really said, “Let me die.” Bruh, it’s not that deep, surely.

Jonah 4:4 GNT The Lord answered, “What right do you have to be angry?”

I love God 😆 He’s like “really Jonah? You’re one to talk. ” Really, what right do i have to decide who gets forgiven, loved, favoured? What right do I have? There is more than enough love for everyone to enjoy. God’s love for each of us is abundant, and we are not in competition for a finite amount of love. We can never fully know and experience the fullness of God’s love.  We just accept it every day and increase our capacity to receive it.

[17] and I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, [18] so that you, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love. [19] Yes, may you come to know his love—although it can never be fully known—and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.

Ephesians 3:17-19 GNT

I love that Jonah had a relationship with God whereby he could express his anger, no matter how misdirected. Even though he initially wasn’t in a listening mood, he soon learnt that he’s not in charge (thank God!), and he’s not an adjudicator. God decides who is forgiven, and he also allows us to choose whether we want to receive his forgiveness.

Perhaps to illustrate this point, God provided comfort for Jonah while he was sulking over Ninevehs good fortune. But this comfort was soon stripped away, and he was very hot AND bothered.

[9] But God said to him, “What right do you have to be angry about the plant?” Jonah replied, “I have every right to be angry—angry enough to die!” [10] The Lord said to him, “This plant grew up in one night and disappeared the next; you didn’t do anything for it and you didn’t make it grow—yet you feel sorry for it! [11] How much more, then, should I have pity on Nineveh, that great city. After all, it has more than 120,000 innocent children in it, as well as many animals!”

Jonah 4:9-11 GNT

You know we not only (try to) gatekeep who should receive God’s love. We also do that in our relationships. I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s easy to hope someone overlooks or doesn’t make a fuss over something I’ve done wrong. However, when the shoe is on the other foot, it can be very difficult to extend that grace to others. While on the surface, things might appear okay because you’ve smoothed the cracks over, ask yourself how you feel inside? After the initial sting has passed, if your friend/sibling/whoever could read your mind, would you be okay with that? While that might be scary, I think it’s a call to pay attention to our internal world and take it to God. Articulate what you feel, try to write it down or record an audio, and unfiltered. Then you can start to sort through it, either yourself or with a trusted person and with God. Whatever you do, please don’t let it be. It’ll fester and cause your heart to harden, layer by layer, little by little. Remember that just because you’ve fallen out with someone, it doesn’t mean God has fallen out with them. He still loves them and you. You’re both precious to him.

Let us pray together.

Lord, thank you for being a God with whom we can be real. We can bring you our irritations and sense of entitlement, and you listen. Thank you for your dedication to making us more like you, showing us how to love like you. Lord, there are many times i have thought certain people were undeserving of your mercy. Forgive me for my hypocrisy and help me to see people how you see them. Forgive me for not doing to others how I want them to do to me. Help me to extend grace to others and help me to put appropriate boundaries in place where they’re required. Help me not to hide things that have hurt me. Help me to be brave enough to articulate them and  bring them to you. Thank you for walking this journey with me, Holy Spirit. I love you 😍 💗

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this. Please like, share and comment 🫂 🤗